Harry Potter and the Ultimate Betrayal
by Mulledmead
Summary: Harry must learn how to destroy Voldemort, but he is the only person that has ever come close. Who best to teach him how to destroy Voldemort than Voldemort himself. Rated R for a reason. Read my warning at the beginning
1. Changing Sides

**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS SITUATIONS OF AN ADULT NATURE, LANGUAGE NOT SUITABLE CHILDREN, AND GRAPHICAL VIOLENCE THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 17. IF YOU FEEL YOU WILL BE OFFENDED BY ANY OF THE AFOREMENTIONED—DO NOT READ THIS STORY! IF YOU ARE NOT EASILY OFFENDED THEN I HOPE YOU LIKE THE STORY.**

**DISCLAIMER: As it should be obvious, I am not J.K. Rowling, and I am in no way affiliated with her, or anything that has the trademark Harry Potter. I just borrowed characters from her story and brought them into my world.

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**Harry Potter and the Ultimate Betrayal**

**Chapter 1**

**Changing Sides**

"I've come to a decision." Harry said, as he opened the door to the Order meeting he had just interrupted. It was 31 August, the night before they were to leave to go to Hogwarts, but soon that would all change. For better or for worse, everything would be changing with this one decision.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley voiced the question that was on everyone's mind. "Wait, this is an Order meeting, you shouldn't be here you're not old enough. Wait until the meeting is over and you can tell us what you mean later."

"That's just it Mrs. Weasley," Harry said calmly though everything inside of him wanted to scream in her face. "This can't wait, there probably won't be a later."

"What do you mean there won't be a later?" Mrs. Weasley again voiced the question that was on nearly everyone's mind.

"I've come to a decision on what I want to do with my life."

"Potter, while you and a lot of idiots in this room may think that your life is overly important, those of us with brains could care less. Now if you would shut up and get out of the room, we can finish this meeting and then those of us who could care less what you want to do with your life won't have to suffer." Snape said getting to his feet.

"Sit down and shut up! NOW!" Harry said putting all the emphasis on the word 'now.' Despite himself Snape complied. There was something in Harry's eyes that warned him not to mess around.

"Harry, I have to agree with Molly and Professor Snape. We have very important business to take care. We would be more than happy to listen to anything you have to say afterwards." Dumbledore said as though the matter was closed. "Now if you'll excuse us...."

"You'll shut up and listen just like the rest of them!" Harry said pointedly. This got everyone in a right state about things.

"Now see here, young man. You can't just go around talking to...." Mrs. Weasley started, getting out of her seat.

"Sit!" Harry said simply, leaving no room for argument. Mrs. Weasley still looked as though she were going to argue, but a quick glare from Harry and she sat down in her chair with a thud. Something about Harry's eyes had unnerved her.

"Harry..." Dumbledore started.

"No! You're done talking now! It's my turn talk and you all are going to listen with your undivided attention!" Harry growled. Snape snorted, making as though this was the last thing he would ever do, but was quickly silenced and had his undivided attention on Harry after receiving another one of his glares.

"As I was saying, I have come to a decision. A decision about what I am going to be doing with the rest of my life, and nothing you say or do is going to change a damn thing." Harry said addressing this last part to Dumbledore. "Ever since entering Hogwarts when I was eleven, I felt as though I had received a new found freedom. I freedom to finally do what I chose to do. It has, however, come to my attention that I had no such freedom. I have been lead by a very short leash, by you. EVERYthing I have done, has irrepressibly been through some decision of yours." Harry was starting to get heated now.

"In my first year, you lead me down the path to the Philosopher's stone. You gave Quirrell, the information he needed on where the Stone would be and how to break in to get it. You also gave Hagrid, the bumbling idiot that he is, the job of removing the Stone within my presence, so it would 'peek' my interest. You also gave Hagrid info that you know he would 'accidentally' divulge to me. You also arranged a chance meeting with the Mirror of Erised. How else would you make sure I knew the workings of the mirror? You conveniently went missing on the day that Quirrell went after the Stone. But, you were never really gone were you? You were there the whole time, hoovering over us to make sure that no true harm ever came to me. You implanted ideas in our heads so we would easily get through tasks made by the professors. There was no way in hell three first years could have got through that alone, even with someone as smart as Hermione." The Order members around the table all had their mouths open in shock.

"Second year, you knew all about the Chamber of Secrets. You helped Lucius Malfoy along his way in deciding to implant the journal in Ginny's cauldron. You also knew all about my Parselmouth abilities, from the Order member who was on guard duty that day at the Zoo. You knew that one way or another, we would have figured out what it was that was petrifying all the students, where it was coming from and what we should do about it. You had Ginny taken down into the Chamber to give us that much more incentive for going down. If we couldn't have figured it out on our own, you would have found some way to make us figure it out. You were down there in the Chamber with us, weren't you? You had to make sure nothing truly bad happened to your weapon, right? We couldn't have that now could we? I never called Fawkes to me, he was down there with you wasn't he. You had the Sorting Hat in your hand too. Fawkes is a wise bird, but he isn't that wise. You knew that I would pull the Sword from it. You knew that, that would be the weapon with which I would eventually kill him, and you wanted to introduce it early on. Something went wrong down there though didn't it? You didn't expect me to lose my wand so early, nor did you expect that I would actually get bitten by the Basilisk. You truly knew fear then didn't you. You weren't afraid that you had cost a student his life, you were more afraid at losing your weapon. But, luck pulled through in the end. Fawkes was there to save my life, and you released a breath that you didn't realize you were holding."

"How am I doing so far _Professor_? Am I missing anything yet? No? Well, in third year you arranged for Sirius's escape didn't you? You saw that the Weasley's won that contest, anything so you would get a picture of Pettigrew in the Prophet. The photographer was rather adamant that all pets be included in the picture, didn't he Mrs. Weasley." At Mrs. Weasley's shocked nod, Harry continued. "You then arranged for the Minister of Magic to take a tour of the Wizarding prison Azkaban, something that no Minister had ever done before. But then, Cornelius is very easy to manipulate, isn't he. Why do you think Dumbledore has never accepted the position of Minister of Magic? Is it because he cares too much for his school? Nope, 'fraid not. Why take all the baggage that comes with being Minister when he can wrap the Minister around his fingers?" Harry asked to everyone as a whole before continuing. "You made sure that Fudge had a copy of the Daily Prophet, with the picture of the Weasley's showing as you took the tour. You knew how smart and observant Sirius was. You knew he would have no trouble spotting Pettigrew. You also knew that he would have no problem escaping from Azkaban either. Something that no one has ever done before? That's only because everyone who's ever gone there has been guilty. You knew that the innocent were not affected by the Dementors as bad as the guilty, and you knew that Sirius was innocent! You knew DAMN well that Pettigrew was the secret keeper. You knew DAMN well that Sirius would take the blame, and you let him! You knew that if he was free he would have taken me into custody and you would not have had as much control over me! So you sent an innocent man to Azkaban for twelve years and you felt nothing about it."

"The only thing that I couldn't figure out was why you wanted Sirius free after all this time. Surely, you knew he would have insisted on taking me into his custody. Then all your plans would have been obvious. But, then the answer suddenly struck me. You wanted me to live with him didn't you. You wanted me to have some happiness and most importantly a very skilled wizard that could teach your weapon how to fight. That was, until I told you of Trelawny's new prophecy. You knew who it was talking about immediately, and you could have stopped it from happening, but you felt it was time. So you made Remus think that he had taken his potion, when in reality he didn't. You knew that Sirius would be there to protect me, and that you would be near by as always, ready to step in if things took a wrong turn. And so, Pettigrew got away, Sirius was made to be on the run, and I was forced to remain in the Dursley's care."

"Then came the fourth year, probably the most despicable thing you've done yet. You knew all about Crouch Jr., from Bertha Jorkins. You got all the info from her before Crouch Sr. put the memory charm on her. Or, was it you who put the memory charm on her? No matter, you sent her towards where you knew Pettigrew and Voldemort were hiding. You knew how Crouch Jr. had taken over Mad-Eye's identity, how he had the real Moody locked in his trunk. You even went down into the trunk to give Moody food and water, otherwise he would have died, surely Crouch Jr. could have cared less about his life. About your excuse of needing Moody's hair for the Polyjuice potion, hair continues to grow even after death! The thing that made this year so bad, was the fact that you had no idea what was going on. All you knew is it had something to do with Voldemort, and still you let things play out as they were. As for the Triwizard Tournament, you were planning on entering my name anyways, another challenge for the hero to overcome, another training session for your weapon!"

"And then, on the Third Task, you had the second biggest scare of your life. The Portkey went off and you had no idea where it took me. Every second that I was gone, was an eternity for you wasn't it. You nearly had a hard attack. And finally when I returned with Cedric's body, you were more than relieved. But, Crouch Jr. got to me too, and he took me away when you went to 'console' the Diggory's. But, you came and saved me, making me believe in you, and trust you even more. When I told you my story about what happened in that grave yard, your eyes lit up with glee. I had done what so many people have tried and failed to do. I dueled Voldemort and I survived. Your weapon was starting to become ready for your final task."

"Fifth year was the straw that broke the camels back wasn't it? You made every mistake that you possibly could. You cut me off completely when I needed friends the most. I was nearly expelled from Hogwarts, because your guards were completely incapable of protecting me. Finally, you lost control over every situation. Fudge was saying his own thing, slandering both me and you. Sirius had begun to discover what you were doing, and was thinking of telling me all about it. Voldemort was going after the one thing that you wanted absolutely no one to know, not even me. Voldemort, at his full power, now added the threat of possession. You couldn't be around me for too long, couldn't even look me in the eyes for fear that Voldemort would find out more than you wanted to know. I lost all trust and faith in you when you started ignoring me. I did the dumbest thing of my life by leading five students into the Department of Mysteries to fight fully grown Death Eaters. If it wasn't for the Order and yourself, we probably all would have died. But, as I look back on it, I wish you wouldn't have showed up. If you hadn't shown up Sirius would still be alive."

"Sirius had finally come to the decision to tell me all about your manipulations and you couldn't have had that. So when Sirius was dueling with Bellatrix Lestrange, you cast a freezing charm on him. It only froze him for two seconds, but that was enough. Lestrange, sent whatever curse it was at him and it connected, sending him back through the veil just as you hoped would happen. The shocked look on Sirius's face was not because Lestrange actually hit him with a curse, it was because he knew what you had done. He knew that he was going to die, because you decided he was too much of an anomaly."

"After everything was said and done, you were at a qualm of whether or not to be happy. I had survived yet again, but I now knew that there was a Prophecy. Sirius had been eliminated, but I was taking it a lot worse than you had expected. How did you expect me to take it? Did you expect me to say 'Well, the closest thing to a father that I've ever had is dead, better get on with my life.' and then move on? Why did you tell me the Prophecy? Did you think that by my knowing the Prophecy, I would forgive you of everything that had happened that year? Did you honestly think that by telling me everything that I wanted to know in the first year that it would make up for all the wrongs you'd done that year? Oh, and those tears, they were priceless. Did you preform a charm so you could shed some tears? Or, are you just that good of an actor?"

"Did I get everything right Dumbledore? Anything I missed? Anything you want to add?"

"Harry, you've got it all wrong. Voldemort has been clouding your mind again. You must learn to recognize lies from the truth. Why would I do all that too you? I've wanted nothing, but to protect you from everything. Harry, you have to learn to think clearly for yourself." was Dumbledore's reply. The Order members looked more than relieved. Of course that was what happened. How could they have possibly believed that Dumbledore, their mentor and leader, could be capable of something like that. It was absurd.

"Ha ha ha ha." Harry laughed manically. "Oh my, that was good. Putting those excellent acting skills to use again, are we Professor? That was so good, that I almost believed it. You were lacking one thing though. I've finished my Occlumency lessons this past summer. You couldn't use your Legilimency on me to make me believe you. For once in my life I am thinking perfectly clearly and perfectly for myself."

"Harry, listen to me...." Dumbledore started.

"No! You listen to me! I'm sick and tired of your shit! All of your shit! Now as I said at the beginning of our little discussion here, I've come to a decision. I've decided that I'm leaving, and I will not becoming back. I will not be going to Hogwarts tomorrow, or ever again."

"Harry, you can't! You have to finish your education! What will you do without a proper education? You'll never be able to get a job, or anything!" Molly Weasley interjected.

"Do you honestly think that I'll need a job after this? If I stay here, I'll soon be dead. Maybe not today or tomorrow or even this year, but someday I'll be killed. Dumbledore, your luck won't last forever. You won't always be there to protect me from Voldemort, even if you were, you can't match his power. I have absolutely no chance in hell of ever defeating Voldemort, and it's either him or me in the end isn't that right professor? So what would you do if you saw a tank coming your way without any signs of stopping? Would you stand in its way, even though death is inevitable? Would you run away like a coward? Or would you jump on the tank and enjoy the destruction? I choose the last one. Neither the muggle world or the wizarding world has brought me happiness, so I'll destroy both and make my own."

"Potter what are you talking about? Do you think that the Dark Lord will share his power with you? He'll kill you in the end, thinking you are a threat to his power." Snape stated.

"Harry, that is the easy way out. Do you remember when I said that you must decide between what is right and what is easy? You are taking the easy way out and that is what a true coward would choose to do." Dumbledore said calmly trying make Harry see reason. "Whatever it is you think I have done to wrong you, we can talk about it. Don't make a choice that you will regret in the end. You will regret this choice in the end, if you choose it. You are nothing like Voldemort, he may be able to live with what he does, but you won't. It will eat through you until you can't take it anymore and either loose your mind, or end up killing yourself to end the pain."

"I thought you may say something like that Professor. You greatly underestimate me. This may be the cowards way out, but at least this coward will still be alive when all is said and done. About Voldemort trying to kill me eventually. Well, that's probably true, but that won't be until we have created a world worth living in. By the time that happens, I will be powerful enough to contend with Voldemort. You see, he has promised me his own personal tutoring. Together we will conquer all, and there is nothing you can do about it. Now there's just one last thing to do." Harry said drawing his wand with amazing speed. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The green light of death shot out of Harry's wand faster than anyone could believe. When it hit its intended target everyone was so completely shocked they could do nothing. "I guess I'll be seeing you all later." Harry finished pulling a Portkey out of his pocket and activating it.

It was another couple minutes before anyone in the Order moved. No body had any clue as to what to do. When they did move, it was complete chaos. Some ran over to their fallen member, praying that the curse had failed. Others ran out of the room, looking for Harry to no success like they knew would happen. People apparated in and out of the building, not knowing what they were doing. With two words, Harry Potter had completely destroyed all order the Order of the Phoenix had. With two words, Albus Dumbledore lay dead on the ground.

* * *

Harry landed hard on the ground in the middle of a forest, two-hundred miles from where he had previously been. For the first time he remained on his feet. He preformed the Point Me spell that he learned from Hermione. North pointed off to his right, so he turned to his left and began his trek southwards.

Harry was shocked to say the least when he started to receive letters from Voldemort at the beginning of the summer. He was even more startled, from what he had learned from the letter. Voldemort had told Harry all about how he had gotten information about the Philosopher's stone from Dumbledore himself. Voldemort did not even know that it existed until he heard it from the conniving old Headmaster. But, that was all Harry needed to get him thinking. If Dumbledore could have done that in his first year, what about all the other years. He went out on a limb saying all that stuff at the Order meeting. He had absolutely no proof, but Dumbledore's eyes were all the proof he needed. It was nothing that could be seen on the surface, but down deep he could see the mixed worry and furiousness in his eyes.

Voldemort had taught Harry the basics of Legilimency and Occlumency for free, through visions, and sent him books that helped him out greatly and helped him to master both. Harry was a little shocked to see that the books were written by Tom Riddle. That was what made Harry believe Voldemort. Why would Voldemort teach Harry how to stop his greatest weapon against him?

Then Voldemort had made his offer. If Harry would come and join him, he would teach him things that Harry could only ever dream of learning. Things that would make Harry an equal to Voldemort and a superior to Dumbledore. _Why would Voldemort want me as an equal? I thought he hated sharing power?_ Were Harry's first thoughts, and when he asked Voldemort this, he was answered with a completely truthful answer for once in his life: "To conquer this world, I will need someone with power as great as mine. While I may be able to conquer it on my own, it is not a sure thing and I only go after sure things. With you by my side and as my equal, it will be a sure thing and we will be able to do it in half the time that it would take me alone. Yes, you are right I hate sharing power, and I would never do this under any other circumstances. I will freely admit that once we succeed, I will attempt to kill you, but you will have been trained enough that it would be a fair match and to the victor would go the world."

Harry knew that they wouldn't be true equals. He wasn't that stupid. He knew that Voldemort would hide some things from him in order to have an edge over him in the final battle. But, he too would hide things from Voldemort. He would secretly learn things that Voldemort knew nothing about, and then he would be the one with the edge.

Harry had been walking in silence for about an hour, stopping every few minutes to cast the Point Me spell to make sure he was still going south. His instructions had been very vague to say the least. He was that after he activated the Portkey he was to walk south. That's it just, walk south.

Eventually, he his walking paid off. He came across a clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing stood three figures dressed all in black. Harry had his wand out a second after seeing them, prepared for anything. What if he was wrong and Voldemort really did screw him over.

As he came closer to the three ominous looking figures, one of them spoke. "Are you alone Potter?" came the voice of Lucius Malfoy. _Voldemort must have broke them all out of prison already. That was quick._

"What do you think Malfoy?" Harry replied patronizingly.

"Watch how you speak to your superiors Potter, it may get you killed." came the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange. If it wasn't for the fact that he had his Occlumency shields up, his face would have shown just how pissed Harry was. This was the bitch who helped kill Sirius.

Harry calmed himself on the inside so he could speak levelly. "When I see my superiors, I will show them the proper respect. So until that time, shut the hell up."

"I'll teach you a lesson that your Mudblood mother should have taught you." Lestrange said pointing her wand at Harry, on the verge of cursing him.

"You know what are orders are Bellatrix, we are supposed to bring him in alive and unharmed. I don't like it anymore than you do, but those are our orders. You know it will be worse for us if we break them." The third member said stepping in-between Harry and Bellatrix, his back towards Harry. Little did he know, he had just saved Bellatrix's life. Harry wasn't even going to mess around, he would have just killed her right then and there.

"Just keep your mouth shut Potter and everything will be a lot easier. I don't know why the Dark Lord requires wants us to bring you to him, or even why you're coming willingly. Frankly, I don't really care. As long as I get my opportunity to make you suffer, I'll be fine." Malfoy said lowering his wand that he too had drawn. Harry just snorted with mirth. They had no idea what was coming.

"Well, let's get moving, I don't have all day." Harry said.

"Alright, you three grab hold of this Portkey, I've got other things to do before going back." The third companion said finally, turning around and showing his face for the first time. Harry recognized him easily. It was the husband of his second most hated person, Rudolphus Lestrange.

No one said anything as they put their hands on the Portkey. Bellatrix didn't even bother saying good-bye to her husband. She just put her and on the Portkey and waited for it to be activated. Malfoy was the one to activate it, and with the familiar tug behind his navel Harry was whisked away to his final destination. Seconds after they disappeared, Rudolphus apparated away.

* * *

Upon landing this time, Harry stumbled and fell into Bellatrix who shoved him off rather roughly, only to be tripped by Lucius Malfoy. Harry landed hard on his backside and let out of grunt of pain. The next thing he knew both Lucius and Bellatrix were on the ground, writhing in pain.

"Don't let me see anything like that happen again. I told you to bring him to me unharmed and your simple minds cannot even accomplish that. Am I correct in assuming Rudolphus has gone on to his next mission?"

Bellatrix managed to get to her feet first and quickly flew to her knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's cloak. "Yes, he is my Lord." Malfoy was quick to follow Bellatrix's actions, kneeling down and kissing the hem of Voldemort's cloak. Harry got slowly to his feet and stood where he was, back stiff. He was not about to give someone his complete submission, no matter how much power that person held.

Voldemort sat back down in his throne like chair and Bellatrix and Malfoy took this as their cue and fell back in line among the twenty-some people wearing black cloaks and white masks. Harry was unnerved for a second as he took in this site. If he were to see this just a couple weeks ago, he'd probably be conjuring himself another pair of pants.

"I trust I find you in good health Harry? They didn't harm you I hope, for their sakes?" Voldemort asked in a calm voice.

"Bellatrix attempted to attack me, but was otherwise unsuccessful." Harry said with a smirk. He knew he didn't really need to say anything about this, she wouldn't have had the chance to get a curse of before she was dead, but the more she suffered, the better it was.

"Is this true Bellatrix?" Voldemort asked, his anger rising.

"My Lord, I–I did not...did not mean anything...." Bellatrix was cut off as a Cruciatus curse connected with her chest. After three minutes the curse was finally released, and Bellatrix's screams ceased.

"I am very disappointed in you Bellatrix. I gave you a very simple order and you could not follow it. Bring me your wands, now!"

Bellatrix looked on the verge of tears. "No, please no. Anything but...." Her pleas were cut off again by another Cruciatus curse. This was only held for a minute before being cut off.

"I will not ask a third time. Bring me your wands, NOW!" Voldemort shouted. Bellatrix, tears running down her cheeks, crawled over to Voldemort and handed him her wand. She was about to turn to crawl away, but Voldemort stopped her.

"I do not remember using the singular form of wands." Voldemort said holding out his hand.

"My Lord, please, I...."

Voldemort was on his feet faster than Harry thought was humanly possible, and Bellatrix was on the ceiling faster than Harry's eyes could follow. After a few seconds, the invisible force that held her there vanished and Bellatrix fell the fifteen feet to the ground with a sickening crack, her left arm sticking out at an odd angle. Voldemort reached into the folds of her cloak and removed her second wand before sitting back down.

Harry almost felt sorry for her now as she lay crumbled on the ground sobbing from pain and fear. Harry had heard all about the rules of hierarchy among the Death Eaters. Any Death Eater could challenge another for rank and face. Killing was against the rules of engagement, but anything else was allowed. First to submit or unable to continue lost. It was better to have someone submit than to have them unable to continue. But, the problem with that was that some would rather die than admit defeat. The only other rule was that all duels were strictly one on one. Bellatrix held one of the highest positions among the Death Eaters, and she did deserve it. She worked her way from the bottom, defeating everyone she had ever faced. But, without her wands, she was screwed, and she knew it. That is why she truly sobbed.

"You will receive your wands back when I feel you are deserving of them." Voldemort said over Bellatrix's sobs. "Now on to other matters. I believe you are all wondering...." at this point Bellatrix's sobs had become too loud and Voldemort cast a silencing charm on her and banished her to the side. " I believe you are all wondering what my sworn enemy, Harry Potter, is doing here. What's more you're wondering why he is still alive. It seems that Mr. Potter has seen the 'light,' so to speak. He has decided to take me up on my offer and join me. Together we will conquer all."

At this announcement their was a stunned silence. It was impossible to see through the masks that nearly everyone wore, but if he could have Harry thought that all faces would be wearing similar expressions. Some, mostly the newbies, would be shocked that Harry Potter had decided the Dark Lord. They had always thought that Harry would be the direct opposition of the Dark Lord. The rest, mostly the lifetime Death Eaters, were pissed. They had hated Harry with everything they possessed since the day he was born and now he had joined their side, and there dreams of gaining favor with the Dark Lord by killing the Potter brat were gone.

"He will be second to no one but myself." If they weren't pissed before, they certainly were now. They had had to break their balls to get where they were now. And for some that wasn't very high. Now this little kid comes in and shoots right to the top. "He will take orders from no one but myself. He is not to be harmed by anyone. If anyone attempts to harm Mr. Potter, you will wish you were in Bellatrix's position right now. He is not open to challenge from anyone either, he will remain in his position until the very end. If any of you have a problem with this speak now." This was Voldemort's attempt at humor. He knew that everyone probably had a problem with this. He also knew that no one would have the gall to question his authority. The pain that they would be in, would be most severe and would last for the rest of their very short life.

"Good, now tell me Harry, were you successful in your mission?" Voldemort asked turning his attention back to Harry.

Harry met Voldemort stare for stare and answered, "yes, I was. Dumbledore will plague this earth no longer." There was a gasp of astonishment from the gathered Death Eaters. Albus Dumbledore was dead. Killed by his star pupil. So that was why Voldemort had offered Harry to join him, he got rid of his two main oppositions in one fell swoop. The wheels in their tiny, little brains were spinning with what this meant for them.

"Very good. I knew you would be successful. Now," Voldemort said turning his attention back to everyone else, "this meeting is over for now. Do not go to far, I am expecting news shortly and you will all want to hear it directly. Challenges are now open."

"My Lord!" nearly everyone in the room stepped forward and spoke up.

"What is it Copier?" Voldemort asked of one particular Death Eater. Everyone except the aforementioned, stepped back with angry growls.

"I wish to officially challenge Bellatrix Lestrange for position and rank." Copier answered.

"Very well. Bellatrix, step forward, you have been challenged." Voldemort instructed.

"My Lord, p–please—I cannot...." Bellatrix started as she limped into the circle cradling her arm.

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Voldemort shouted "Begin!"

"CRUCIO!" Copier shouted immediately. Bellatrix didn't stand a chance and fell to the ground screaming once again. After a minute Copier released her asked if she would forfeit. The tremors that ran through her body were the only sign that she was still alive.

"Bellatrix is unable to continue. Edward Copier is declared the victor. Challenges are closed for today." Voldemort said lazily shooing everyone away with his hand. "Narcissa, take Mr. Potter to his room. Also, take the mess that is your sister with you. If Harry gives his permission you may heal her arm."

Narcissa helped her sister to her feet. Bellatrix had to lean all her weight on Narcissa as she was just too weak to stand at all. Very slowly the two sisters made their way over to Harry. "Follow me." Narcissa panted with as much of a sneer as she could manage. Lucius made no attempt to help his wife with her load.

It took about five minutes to reach the door that led out of the chamber, and Narcissa had to stop outside it to try and catch her breath. "Is it far to my room?" Harry asked agitated.

"Yes, it is on the other side of the castle." Narcissa hissed at him.

So they were in a castle. _I wonder where it is?_ Harry mused to himself. "Here." Harry said grabbing hold of Bellatrix. He should have let them both suffer, but the less time he spent in their presence the better. "Lead on." Harry instructed. He fell in-step with Narcissa as she began walking again, dragging Bellatrix along with him. It wasn't hard dragging Bellatrix along, she weighed next to nothing. Azkaban must still have its effects on her. Narcissa must have been extremely weak if she couldn't manage it.

Eventually they did come to Harry's room. Narcissa was right when she said that his room was far. If Harry would have let Narcissa drag Bellatrix, they would have still been making their way to his room when the sun rose. Harry set Bellatrix down against the wall opposite his door as gently as he felt necessary, which wasn't much, and made to enter his room.

"Potter," Narcissa stopped him with a hand on his arm.

Harry looked from her hand on his arm, back up to her, and she got the message quickly dropping her hand to her side.

"Do I have—do I have your permission—am I allowed to—can I heal my sister?" Narcissa asked taking all her will power not to throw-up at the idea of asking permission from a little kid.

"That was really hard for you to ask wasn't it? Well, I suppose you can, if, that is, _if_ you ask really nicely, saying pretty please and all that." Harry taunted.

Narcissa didn't even think about it, she turned to leave immediately. She paused as she bent to lift her sister which elicited a groan of pain from her, but continued quickly after she looked back at Harry. After her first couple steps down the hall before calling out to her. "Narcissa." She turned back to him with a glare set firmly on her face. He blamed it on the five years that he had followed Dumbledore. It was hard to break habits the were ingrained as much as this one. "You can heal your sister if you want to."

Narcissa's face softened for a second, but the glare was back quickly. "Don't expect a 'thank you' from either of us."

"The thought never crossed my mind." Harry said shutting the door behind him and taking in the scenery of his room. The room was huge, complete with the largest bed Harry had ever seen in his life, a nice, large writing desk, some comfortable looking chairs scattered here and there, and a door that led to what Harry assumed was his bathroom. The odd thing about the room, was that there were no windows at all. In fact, Harry had yet to see any windows in this entire 'castle.' "What kind of castle doesn't have any windows?" Harry wondered aloud.

"The kind of castle that is underground." answered a sarcastic voice from the door way. "The Dark Lord wishes for us all the reconvene in the Gathering Hall."

Harry had turned around with his wand drawn the second he heard the voice. When he saw to whom the voice belonged, his grip tightened. "Up and about so soon?" Harry asked with an equally sarcastic voice. "I thought you'd have been out for the next couple days." He hadn't really thought that. He had heard about her 'durability.' He knew that she would be up already. He just liked getting her riled up.

"Don't think you won't pay for what you did to me today, Potter. You may be in the Dark Lord's favor, for now, but you won't always be. Revenge is at its sweetest when its totally unexpected." With that she turned to leave, expecting him to follow.

"Bellatrix," Harry called after her. She stopped, still facing the other way. Harry remained silent until she reluctantly turned to face him. "Next time you come to my room, knock and wait for permission to enter."

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes in a glare towards Harry, who just shrugged it off and walked past her out the door. He had to slow his pace to a near crawl, to allow Bellatrix to catch up. He hadn't really been paying attention when he was being shown to his room and needed Bellatrix to show him the way.

When she finally did catch up, it was with great speed that she walked by him, purposefully bumping into him, nearly knocking him to the ground. She did not slow, for a second and was quickly putting a large space between them.

A devilish smile crept its way onto Harry's face as he pulled out his wand. "Locomotor Mortis." he whispered the leg-locker curse. Bellatrix never heard or saw it coming until it hit her in the back and her legs snapped together. She quickly overbalanced, and would have fallen on her face if she couldn't have gotten her hands up in time. This, however, was a mistake as her left arm was still extremely tender from the break less than an hour ago. Under the pressure, Harry heard the bone snap again, and Bellatrix hissed in pain.

Harry casually walked up t Bellatrix, looked down at her, and continued walking past. He did not know how to get to the Gathering Hall, but then, he wouldn't have to find his way on his own. Bellatrix wouldn't dare show up late, and so would have to ask Harry for his help out of the Leg-Locker curse. He was considering making her beg, but thought twice as Bellatrix would rather die than beg Harry for anything.

Harry was a little shocked that Bellatrix never said a word as he walked out of sight. _She must be a glutton for punishment._ He thought as he continued walking. There was no way that she could ever make it to the Gathering Hall in time, and Voldemort would have nothing but punishment for her.

Harry turned left down the next hallway thinking about what kind of punishment Voldemort would have in store for Bellatrix. It was because of his pondering that he walked right into Narcissa Malfoy. Both fell to the ground hard.

"Watch where you're going, you...." Narcissa started, but as she looked at who she had run into she cut off suddenly. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked impolitely.

"I'm trying to find my way to the Gathering Hall." Harry answered getting to his feet. The thought of offering her a hand of never even entered his mind.

"You're going the wrong way, you—where is my sister? She was supposed to show you the way."

"She's back down the hall, it seems that she is incapable of walking so I left her behind. So I guess you get to show me the way."

Narcissa simply ignored him and went down the way he indicated her sister lay. Harry not knowing what else to do, began to follow after her. When they reached Bellatrix, she was still laying in her prone position cradling her arm. Narcissa bent down to her and had a quick, whispered conversation that Harry couldn't manage to hear. When they were finished, Narcissa stood quickly, turned towards Harry, and without warning slapped Harry hard across the face.

"Bitch!" Harry shouted bringing a hand to his cheek and rubbing it soothingly. "Don't _ever_, do that again." Harry said calmly. Narcissa reached back with her other hand and slapped him across his other cheek.

"Some people may be afraid of you. They may even take orders from you, but you ever expect me to. If you ever touch my sister or myself again, you'll be dead. I don't care what the Dark Lord says about you, you're still just an insolent child."

Narcissa pulled out her wand and turned back to her sister. Bellatrix looked both grateful and pissed, but mostly pissed. She did not need anyone to look after her, especially her sister who just happened to be younger and weaker than her. She was supposed to look after her not the other way around.

Narcissa had her back turned to Harry, so the only indication she had was when Bellatrix's eyes went wide. The next thing she knew, Narcissa was disarmed and hanging, upside-down from the wall and completely unable to move. She tried to point her wand at Harry so she could curse him, but it wouldn't budge.

Bellatrix was on her feet and slowly walking towards her sister's wand which lay about five feet in front of her. If she could just reach it, she could teach this brat a lesson. Unluckily for her Harry had excellent peripheral vision. Even though he couldn't see her clearly as his glasses didn't wrap around his face, he still saw her blurry form walking to where he knew Narcissa's wand to be. He waited until she was about to bend over and pick it up, before whispering a summoning charm.

Bellatrix's fingers were nearly on the wand when it shot away from her and into Harry's waiting hand. "Now what did you plan on doing with this?" Harry asked holding the wand aloft. "You weren't planning on attacking me, were you? I didn't think so." With a flick of his wand, Bellatrix was flung to the wall opposite her sister. Harry drew a circle with his wand and Bellatrix was upside-down. "_Adglutino_." Harry said, fastening Bellatrix to the wall like he had her sister.

Harry walked back over Narcissa and reached into the folds of her cloak. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Narcissa shouted at him.

"Don't flatter yourself. You may be beautiful, but you're about thirty-five years too old for me." Harry said, removing his hand, and with it her spare wand. Narcissa looked quite insulted at the insinuation that she was fifty-one. "Tell me, do a lot of people come this way?"

"No, they don't Potter. You are the only child here, and therefore the only one unable to apparate." Narcissa answered snidely.

"That's a shame then, you'll be up there a long time. I just hope the charm holds out until someone can release you. That's the first time I've ever used it on a human, I'm not sure how long it will last." Harry said, before walking away.

"Potter! Wait!" Narcissa yelled in a worried voice. Harry just ignored her and kept walking. "You'll never find the way without help!" Narcissa tried. That got Harry to stop. He turned around and walked back to her.

"You know, you're right. I'll never find my way on my own." Harry said, a relieved look coming over Narcissa's face. "_Legilimens!" _

This being the first time that Harry had ever used this curse, he was completely unprepared for the storm of memories that assaulted him. The memories were incoherent at best. One right after the other, having absolutely no connections to one another. Her arranged marriage to Lucius, the birth of Draco, getting beat by her father, Harry at the Quidditch World Cup, Draco getting accepted to both Durmstrang and Hogwarts...._Wait why does she have a memory of me at the Quidditch World Cup. _

With this thought the memories began to focus on that specific event. _Harry was, sitting in the first row of the box, looking out into the stadium, when Cornelius Fudge announced Lucius's name and he turned quickly to face him. The scene shifted swiftly to Fudge's face as he greeted her and bowed. _A sense of loathing came over Harry as he saw fudge. He was not sure if it was his own loathing of Fudge or Narcissa's.

_The mascots came out onto the field and when Narcissa saw the Veela's anger overwhelmed. She looked to her husband and to her son, both had drool dripping off their chins. She observed the rest of the males in the Top Box, all with varying degrees of ecstasy covering their faces. She then looked to Harry again, and was in time to see Hermione pull him back into his seat. The scene stayed on Harry for a few minutes as the Bulgarian and Irish teams were announced respectfully. Suddenly a hand appeared out of no where and reached into Harry's pocket pulling out the wand that was there, before disappearing just as suddenly._ A sensation of shock overtook Harry. As the shock passed and the scene stayed on Harry a new emotion overtook Harry, one that he wasn't too familiar with. Lust. Just as Harry had recognized the emotion, it started to fade away.

The edges of the scene started to blur and the picture started to flicker. Narcissa was trying to force Harry out of her mind. He needed to quit fooling around and get the information he needed. As his thoughts were left to wonder, the memories began to come at him incoherently. _Last time I thought of the Quidditch World Cup and it came to me. _Again the Quidditch World Cup scene appeared, starting from the beginning. _I guess this follows whatever I think of._

_How do I get from my room to the Gathering Hall? _Harry asked in his head. Suddenly, Harry was walking from his room towards the Gathering Hall. His gaze kept forward the entire time, never looking left or right, up or down. I didn't even feel as though he were walking. It felt more as though he was gliding through the hallways. As he opened a door and walked into the Gathering Hall, the scene faded and went back to the incoherent memories.

Having got what he came for, Harry ended the spell, just to be spat in the face by Narcissa. "You son of a bitch. How dare you...." Narcissa started venomously.

"_Silencio." _Harry said, jabbing his wand at her and cutting off whatever it was Narcissa was about to say. "That's better." He finished and began walking away. Bellatrix, who had been silent through that whole exchange, decided that she would voice her opinion on the matter.

"You piece of shit! You better pray that I don't get down from here! When I do, I'm going to cut off your testicles and put them where your eyes should be!" She continued yelling what she would do to specific parts of Harry's body until he got far enough away that he couldn't hear them, which happened to be three hallways down.

* * *

As Harry walked into the Gathering Hall, he noticed two things. One, everyone was already there except for the two that he had previously dealt with. And B. every head in the place was turned towards him, and Voldemort had a glare on his face that could kill quicker than a Basilisk.

"If there is one thing that I do not tolerate, Potter, it is being kept waiting. I hope, for your sake that you have a good reason for being so late." Voldemort hissed.

"I had trouble finding the place."

"Where is Bellatrix? She was supposed to bring you here."

"She and her sister are hanging around somewhere." Harry answered. "They got in my way, so I dealt with them."

"Lucius, go and retrieve your wife and her sister. I want everyone present for this. Now!" Lucius immediately disapparated. "Harry, come and take your place at my side." Harry obligingly walked over to Voldemort's side. It was then that he remembered that he had Narcissa's wands. He pulled them out of his pocket and handed them to Voldemort. "Whose are these?" he inquired.

"Narcissa's." Harry answered simply. "She tried to attack me, so I took them away from her." Harry half lied half told the truth.

"Very well. I will deal with the both of them later."

Three minutes later there were three cracks of people apparating. Narcissa and Lucius went to their places beside each other, while Bellatrix went to her new position, all the while giving Harry the death stare.

"Now that Bellatrix and Narcissa have decided to join us.... Severus what information have you brought me."

Severus Snape stepped forward, kneeled to one knee and kissed the hem of Voldemort's cloak.

"It is as the _boy _says," Snape began when Voldemort gave him permission to rise. "Dumbledore is indeed dead." So Voldemort didn't trust his word. Well, he couldn't expect much less now could he.

"Excellent! And Minerva McGonagall is the new Headmistress?" Voldemort asked, though it wasn't really a question. "What about the new Defense teacher?"

"There is not much about him that anyone knows. He was an old friend of Dumbledore's from the time of Grindlewald's rise. No one knows where he came from, as he was just _there_. After Grindlewald's defeat, he disappeared. To where no one knows. Now he is back. That's all that Minerva knows. It seems that Dumbledore hired him not two weeks ago, and told no one." Snape explained.

"And his name? Were you at least able to overcome your ineptness to find that out?" Voldemort snarled angrily.

"Adwiraloth Deriwyn." Snape replied, bracing himself for the pain he knew he was about to be in.

"Very well. For your failures Severus. _Crucio!_" Voldemort cursed Snape with a wand that Harry never even saw Voldemort draw. Snape was fortunate, Voldemort had more pressing matters at hand and only held him under the Cruciatus for a minute.

When Snape finally made it back to his spot in the semi-circle, Voldemort called out the next person. "Dolohov." Dolohov stepped forward and after he finished with the formalities, waited for Voldemort to question him. "What of your team's mission?"

"We were not completely successful, my Lord."

"What do you mean 'not completely?' You either accomplish your mission or you pay for it! _Crucio!_" Voldemort held him under the Cruciatus for a little longer than he did Snape. "Now were you successful?"

"No, we were not. We were only able to kill her guards before she triggered a Portkey, and seconds later backup Aurors arrived on the scene. It seems that Madame Bones was indeed a member of Dumbledore's Order."

"Very well, she was not key to my plans." Voldemort said offhandedly. A extremely relieved look came over Dolohov's face. "For your failure, Dolohov—_Crucio!"_ Dolohov was held under the Cruciatus for longer this time, but was able to make it back quicker than Snape. Snape must have just been weak. "Rudolphus, you _better_ have some good news for me. Your mission _was_ key."

Just by watching Rudolphus walk to Voldemort and kiss the hem of his cloak, Harry could tell that he was in for a world of pain. His nervousness, his _fear_ was palpable. Harry already knew that Rudolphus was reporting a failure. He almost felt bad for the man. Almost.

"M–my Lord—with news—with news of Dumbledore's death. T–the security—around the Minister's house. It—it was—was impossible to pass. Not even y—only you—could have passed that security. It would have taken a team—a team of at least fifteen, t–to pass it. If—if we were to—if we were to wait a month—then the security would be less, their guards down. Then I will be able to accomplish my mission." Rudolphus answered. Every word was a struggle for him to get out.

"Rudolphus. The entire point of you trying to assassinate the Minister tonight, was that, with the deaths of both Dumbledore and Fudge, and with Potter joining our side the Wizarding world would be crippled. They would have no one to look to in their time of need. So many would have joined my ranks out of fear, that it would have moved forward our ultimate goal by months!" Voldemort said calmly.

"My Lord, Fudge is a nothing. Without Dumbledore to tell him what to do...."

"I _know_ Fudge is useless! The Wizarding world still thinks him to be a great leader. And while he is still alive the people will back him, and the people with more sense will lead him! You have failed me too many times Rudolphus, too many times." Voldemort finished shaking his head. "Harry," he started taking his eyes off Rudolphus to look at him. "It is time for your initiation. You will give Rudolphus the punishment that he so rightly deserves. Now I have heard from Bellatrix, that your first attempt at the Cruciatus was a failure. Just remember that you have to _want_ to cause your victim pain. Give it a try."

This is the part of joining Voldemort that Harry had been dreading. He knew it would have to happen sooner or later, but he would have much preferred later than sooner. Torture was just not something he wanted to do. He could kill, either way it was unavoidable. But _torture_, that was something he would never like.

A look of relief came over Rudolphus as Harry began to step forward. In his opinion he had highly lucked out. He rather be tortured by anyone in the world than Voldemort. Comparing Voldemort's cruciatus to anyone else's, was like comparing a super nova to a bee sting. Especially with an amateur. No one got the Cruciatus right on there first couple of tries.

_I have to want to cause the pain._ Harry told himself as he pulled out his wand. He would have to get this right on the first time for to reasons. One, if he failed, everyone would think he was weak and he definitely could not have that. Letting someone from this group know that he was weak, was like showing a pack of lions that you had no arms or legs. They would pounce on him at the first opportunity, despite Voldemort's warning. And two, if he failed it would displease Voldemort and displeasing Voldemort meant pain. He'd rather have Rudolphus in pain than himself.

_I have to _want _to cause him pain. _Harry repeated to himself as he aimed his wand. _What has he done to you to deserve the pain? _That nagging voice that he had so hoped would go away said. _He tried to do harm, to kill me and all my friends. _Harry answered the voice. _But who hasn't done that? _The voice rebutted. Harry didn't have an answer for that.

He was never going to be able to do this, and what was worse, he knew he wouldn't be able to do it. Not being able to do something pissed Harry off. He used to not care about it, but now it really pissed him off. He couldn't afford failures with what he was trying to do.

Making sure he aim was true, Harry closed his eyes, and began imagining that Rudolphus was everyone who he had ever hated. Imagining those people doing everything that he hated them for. The hatred inside him aflame, Harry released it all into the curse. "_Crucio!" _he shouted.

Rudolphus saw the red beam coming towards himself, and braced for impact as moving would have sealed his coffin.

The curse impacted in his chest and immediately sent afferent neurons through the dendrites, towards the brain. The problem with this was that dendrites conduct away from the brain towards the cell body. This shuts down all voluntary muscle movement. The victim begins falling before they even begin to feel the pain. The brain then interprets the neurons as extreme pain.

When preformed incorrectly, the Cruciatus curse and the pain that it causes, lasts only as long as it takes for the neurons to reach the brain and for the brain to interpret, which is only milliseconds. When preformed correctly, the curse forms a connection between the caster and the victim, causing the process to repeat itself over again until such time as the caster chooses to disconnect it.

Unfortunately for Rudolphus, the curse was preformed correctly.

Unfortunately for Harry's psyche, the curse was preformed correctly.

The victim is not the only person to get stimulation out of the Cruciatus curse. The caster also receives his or her own form of stimulation. While the victim gets the stimulation of extreme pain, the caster gets quite the opposite effect, extreme pleasure. The stimulation for the caster does not begin until the curse has been connected for five seconds. This is why many people become addicted to the usage of the Cruciatus curse. This is why it was so unfortunate for Harry.

As soon as the curse connected with Rudolphus, and remained connected Harry opened his eyes. What he saw confused him for a second. From the point of contact with Rudolphus, a bead of energy begin to crawl its way back along the beam towards Harry. He was about to stop the curse, but before he could the bead reached him, and the sensation he felt from it cut off all thought of ever ending the curse.

His eyes closed and rolled up in the back of his head, as Harry was lost with the pleasure he was receiving from the curse. Rudolphus's screams and Voldemort's maniacal laughter fell upon deaf ears as Harry basked in the pleasure. He began wanting to bring the pain to Rudolphus if it meant continuing these sensation. He had thought that being under the Imperious was bliss, this made that feel like being stabbed in the eye. It wasn't until Harry ejaculated in his pants that he released the curse, and that was only from shock and embarrassment. When the curse ended, Harry immediately longed for the sensation again, and almost cast the curse to bring it back.

What had felt like mere seconds, Harry later found out was fifteen plus minutes. He had completely lost himself within the curse. He learned that that was normal for a lot of people. A lot of people had lost themselves within the curse the first time the preformed it correctly.

One would mistake Rudolphus for dead, if it weren't for the occasional spasm. His brain was completely fried, exactly like he had done to the Longbottoms. With the realization of what he had done, Harry emptied his stomach onto the floor in front of him. Several of the Death Eaters began laughing at this, which angered Harry.

"Excellent, Harry, excellent. Very good for your first time. Now finish him off." Voldemort said laughing heartily.

Harry really didn't want to do this for two reasons. First and foremost, he wanted to leave Rudolphus like this, so he and his wife would know what it felt like to be a Longbottom. Secondly, he didn't think he could stomach it. But, he had to save face in front of the Death Eaters. They had to believe that he was a cold-blooded killer.

That is why he got up close to preform the curse. He wanted to look Rudolphus directly in the eyes as he killed him, to show the others what he was made of. When he reached the body, Harry bent slightly so that the tip of his wand was pushing Rudolphus's head into the ground.

What Harry didn't know, what no one really knew, was that with the Avada Kedavra curse a great amount of energy is realized. The part that no one knew was that a lot of that energy dissipates into the air. Since Harry had his wand connected to Rudolphus, this was not allowed to happen.

"_Avada Kedavra!" _Harry said allowing the hatred to take hold of him once more. Instantly, Rudolphus's eyes became devoid of life, like everyone expected. What no one expected, was for Rudolphus's head to swell. It continued to swell until it could stretch no further and simply exploded. Pieces of brain and skull flew everywhere. Harry was completely covered. The Death Eaters looked horrified, some even emptied their stomachs like Harry did for a second time. Voldemort just smiled and laughed manically.

"Clean yourself off and step forward Harry." Voldemort said, not waiting for people to regain themselves.

Harry looked at him incredulously before muttering a cleaning charm on himself. He would wash himself a million times, but he would never get the smell or the feeling of the tiny pieces of brain off his body.

After cleaning himself as well as possible Harry stepped forward. "Kneel." Voldemort ordered. "Today is a day that you will remember forever, Harry. Whether you want to or not. Today is the day that you will be marked. Now remove your shirt."

"What!?" Harry shouted. "We agreed that I would not be _marked_. It was one of my stipulations for joining you." Harry had made all kinds of stipulations before he joined. He knew that Voldemort would be so anxious for him to join, that he would give him whatever he wanted. "I refuse to be marked."

"Harry that may have been part of our agreement, but I've changed my mind. You see, I can do that, I'm the one with all the power." Voldemort said mockingly.

"What about my training?" Harry asked icily. "Are you going to go back on that too?"

"Don't worry, Harry. I was telling the truth when I said I need you by my side. And I do need you strong. You will get your training. And don't worry about the mark, yours will be different from the rest. It will set you apart from them, higher than them. It will help you along your way."

"Ok." Harry said, reluctantly removing his shirt. What else could he do? If he refused, Voldemort would just torture him and do it anyway, or just kill him. He was up shit creek without a paddle.

When Harry was kneeling, his eyes cast towards the ground, Voldemort stood and began walking around him. "The idea for a new mark came to me when we first began exchanging letters. While I was training you through our connection, I was analyzing it at the same time. It was very helpful for the creation of this new mark. I have imputed some of my knowledge into this mark, and it will help you along the way." Voldemort finished, putting his wand against Harry's back. For a second, Harry was scared that Voldemort was going to do to him what he did to Rudolphus. But, when Voldemort began chanting in Latin, he relaxed.

This relaxation, was short-lived as Harry began to feel the burning pain. It wasn't as bad as the Cruciatus, as it was just in one spot, but this one spot was intensified with more pain. Slowly the pain began spreading from that one point on his back, to covering his entire back.

Voldemort finished his chant and removed his wand. The burning pain remained in Harry's back. It was all that Harry could do to remain conscious through the pain. "Very good Harry." Voldemort said in a low voice. "Most pass out from the pain when they receive their mark. Your pain has bee increased twofold with the new mark and still you remain conscious. You are going to be very powerful indeed." Voldemort said. His voice sounded as though it were a mile away and echoing. "Narcissa, help Mr. Potter to his room and do something to help with the pain. Then come back here for your punishment." Voldemort said.

* * *

Harry stood by his own volition. He would not let people see him weakened. He walked out of the Gathering Hall upright and without anyone's help. As soon as Narcissa closed the door behind him he nearly collapsed. He was only saved by leaning heavily on the wall.

"Here, drink this." Narcissa said, indifferently shoving a vial into his hand. Harry gave her a 'do you think I'm an idiot?' look. "It's not poisoned. Drink it, it will give you strength. Then drink this, it will dull the pain." She said handing him another. Harry just continued to stare at her. "Well get on with it. You've caused me enough trouble, I don't need you to add being late for my punishment to the list." When Harry still made no move to drink the vials in his hand she snatched it out of her hand. "Honestly!" she said incredulously, before grabbing a hold of Harry's face and forcing his mouth open and pouring the contents of both vials down his throat. Harry tried to fight her off but had no strength with witch to do it.

Slowly Harry felt his strength returning, the pain that coursed through his body subsiding. He was so happy to feel his strength return, to numb the pain, that any thoughts of punishing Narcissa left his mind. He even forgot who he was talking to for a second and thanked her.

Narcissa was shocked by this action, that the hardness of her face softened. She had been the designated Healer for Death Eaters since her husband first joined their ranks, and not once had anyone actually _thanked _her for her services. Not even her husband thanked her for anything. "Yes, well, come along then."

"Why? I know my way now." Harry said tapping his temple. "You're no longer needed."

With the remembrance of what Harry had done to her, Narcissa's face hardened more than ever. "The Dark Lord ordered me to show you to your room, so I will do just that. I'm not overly anxious to receive more punishment than I'm in for." She replied, before walking away towards Harry's room.

When they reached Harry's room, Harry walked into it without saying a word. Narcissa didn't even stop. She just turned around and began walking back to the Gathering Hall.

The first thing Harry did when he shut the door behind him was strip off all his clothes and toss them into the fireplace. He then entered the bathroom and began to fill up the copper tub. He would have rather had a shower, but unfortunately there wasn't one. He avoided looking at himself in the mirror, he did not want to see what he had become.

* * *

Harry spent a good hour in the tub, trying to soak his problems away. Upon exiting the tub, Harry took his first look into the mirror. What he saw he did not like. He looked like a different person. His once bright emerald eyes, the eyes he was so proud of, were now dull. His magic had always kept his face clean shaven and his hair the length he wanted it. Now his face was starting to become covered with stubble, his hair was shaggy and even more unkempt than usual.

He was still staring at his reflection when there were three quick knocks at the door, then one, then three more. That was the code they had worked out before he came into this hell-hole. Three, one, and three again, was the signal that it was him and he was alone. Harry wasn't expecting him this early, something could be wrong.

Wrapping a towel around his waste and grabbing his wand, Harry went to the door slowly. He opened the door just a crack to peer out. "What?" he asked.

"Open the door, Potter! I don't want to be seen!" Snape hissed, pushing on the door. Harry stepped back to allow him in. After entering, Snape quickly closed the door shut and put more charms and hexes on it than Harry could keep track of. "Put some clothes on. No one wants to see you half naked!" Snape snapped.

Harry, not in the mood to argue inanely, turned to go to the bathroom and change. Snape audibly winced as he saw the Mark on Harry's back, and absently began massaging the inside of his left forearm. He remembered, quite well, what it felt like to be Marked. His was only a tiny thing, Harry's covered his entire back, he didn't want to imagine what that must have felt like. It pissed him off slightly to see the _boy _walking around so casually, he was out of commission for an entire day when he received his.

"So how's the old coot feeling?" Harry asked as he re-entered the room fully clothed.

"Show some respect!" Snape snapped at him.

"Don't forget where you are _Professor. _Here you show respect to me. Now answer my question Snivellus. You don't want me to treat you like I do Bellatrix, now do you?" Harry taunted.

Snape looked as though he wanted nothing more than to curse Harry right now. But, he knew Harry was right. If Harry even said that Snape had looked at him funny, he'd be in a world of pain.

"Seriously though," Harry said, taking on a serious demeanor. "How is he?"

"He is fine, the curse worked as expected. He showed all the signs of being dead for one hour, before waking up with a migraine that even my potions can't fix. As though you really care. You're fitting into your role seamlessly. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a Death Eater from the day you were born." Snape replied snidely.

"You think I _want _to do this!? You think I _enjoyed_ torturing that guy until his mind broke and then blowing his head up!?" Harry shouted his anger rising. He would like nothing more than to use the Cruciatus on Snape right now, to bring back that feeling—_Where the hell did that thought come from?_ "I can barely recognize myself when I look in the mirror!"

"That is to be expected." Snape said, unexpectedly calm. "When a wizard or witch changes their life from something they truly are to something that they are not, they change on the outside as well as on the inside. Where do you think Dumbledore got his beard from?"

"Wait. What?" Harry asked confused.

"Please, Potter! Don't be so daft! The only way for a wizard or witches hair to grow or shorten, is if they truly want it too. Otherwise, their magic will keep it the same their entire life. Dumbledore was not always the kind, slightly insane, old man that he is now. He used to have a much darker side."

"Dumbledore? A darker side? No way!"

"Yes, well that is not for me to divulge. Ask him if you want to know anything else. Now if there is nothing else." Snape said, implying that there better not be anything else.

"Actually there is. How's everyone taking it? The idea of me going dark, that is."

"The know-it-all still won't believe it. She thinks that you are under the Imperious or some kind of Confundus charm. Weasley is making out as though he knew it all along. The werewolf thinks it was his fault. The Order is quite confused, that ridiculous story you came up with, must have been quite convincing. Some are actually stupid enough to believe it. Fudge is quite ecstatic at the whole development. He has put a reward of 5,000 galleons on your head, dead or alive. And the rest of the Wizarding world finds out with tomorrow mornings edition of the Daily Prophet. Now, if you'll excuse me." Snape said getting to his feet. He quickly cancelled all the charms and hexes that he put on Harry's room. "I would learn some good locking and anti-spy spells if I were you, Potter." With that he was gone.

Harry let him go. He was quite pissed with the news of his friends reactions. Hermione had reacted as he had expected, and he silently thanked her for that. Remus's reaction upset him a little. He should know better than to blame himself, they had gone over this when Harry first arrived at Grimmauld Place. Ron's reaction is what pissed him off, though he should have expected this. He couldn't believe what an idiotic prat Ron was.

Going through the Occlumency processes that he had learned from both Dumbledore and Voldemort, and that he had become accustomed to, Harry slowly drifted off to sleep, his mind blissfully blank.

* * *

**A/N: Well that's the story so far, tell me what you think. To those of you reading my other story, simply titled Harry Potter, do not fear, I plan on finishing it before the 6th book comes out which happens to be July 16. This idea has been crawling around in my head for some time now. Every time I try to write on the other story this idea attacks me and makes it impossible for me to write. Hopefully it will get out of my system soon, so I can finish the other story. I really don't want to force the story out as I feel it won't be as good, so I'm trying to empty my mind of this story.**

**To those of you who liked this story, I will continue to write on it too. This chapter is as graphical as it is going to get, but I promise there will be more killing. If your thinking that the torture scene was gross, I agree, but it is just my view on what the Cruciatus is like for the caster, when done correctly. Also, I'm not all that great at science, I doubt I got anything even slightly correct as what is possible in the human body, but it's the best I could do. Those thinking the ejaculation part was too much, I'll remind you that J.K. Rowling somewhat the same in the 5th book, though without such blunt wording. I'll quote what Sirius says here: _"'Put that away, will you?" said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer. "Before Wormtail wets himself from excitement."'_**

**Yes I know that can be taken as him simply pissing himself, but it can be taken the other way too and that's the way I took it.**

**So remember to tell me what you think. I wasn't going to reveal the truth until the third or fourth chapter, but it just happened this way. Next chapter will have reactions across Hogwarts, an Order meeting, a closer look at the new Defense teacher, Harry's training, more interaction between Harry and the other Death Eaters, and more. Don't look for it to be this long though, as I said this idea has been brewing in my head for a while and it pretty much wrote itself. Also I'm going to work on my other story. Anyway, until next time. Bye.**


	2. Flashback

**Harry Potter and the Ultimate Betrayal**

**Chapter 2**

**Flashback**

Hermione Granger walked slowly, but purposely towards the Great Hall on the morning of September 2nd. It was a Monday morning and under any other circumstances she would be elated. It was no secret she loved Monday's. The weekend was finally over and it was time to start fresh, learning everything the Professors had to teach her and then some. This Monday morning, however, she wished would just end before it started.

Today would be the day that Harry's treachery would become common knowledge. She still did not want to believe it, but she had to face facts. Harry was gone and Professor Dumbledore was dead. There was no other way around it, Harry had betrayed them all. She still remembered the 31st of August vividly. That day would never fade from her memory.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

She was sitting in the basement of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, more commonly referred to as 'the Headquarters,' with Harry and Ron. Ron was trying to engage Harry in a conversation about the upcoming Quidditch season, something about needing two new chasers, Hermione wasn't really paying attention she never could understand what fascinated those two about that silly game. The only reason she even went to watch the game, was to give her support to Harry, and now that Ron was on the team too, to support him, she supposed. Frankly though, she hated the game, but would have to admit that she, like everyone else, was in awe with the obvious skill that Harry played.

Harry didn't seem to be himself at all. Instead of actively participating in the conversation as he usually did, he answered Ron's questions with as little words as possible, to simply placate their simple-minded friend. Usually, Hermione would be disturbed by Harry's lack of exuberance, but she figured it was because Harry was a little jealous of Ron.

Ron had been made Quidditch Captain for the Gryffindor team this year. Harry had been outwardly happy at Ron's fortune, but deep down, Hermione could tell that Harry had expected the job. After Katie Bell had declined the position, due to her upcoming N.E.W.T.s, Harry was the obvious choice. He, after all, had been on the Quidditch team since their first year and was most likely the best player at Hogwarts (if not the entire Quidditch World), while Ron had only joined the team last year and frankly wasn't all that good.

Ron of course showed no sympathy for his friend, and made out as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Hermione was deeply reminded of Fifth Year, when Ron was given the Prefect badge that Harry so rightly deserved. At least then Ron had shown some humility in front of Harry (though Hermione had caught him talking to himself in the drawing room, going on about how he knew he was better than Harry).

While Hermione had been going through her musings, Mrs. Weasley had walked in and was trying to usher them all out. Harry had already left the room, thankful to be away from Ron probably, while Ron was still protesting how he deserved to be in the Order. Hermione gathered the book that she had been attempting to review (The Standard Book of Spells Grade 6), and left the room.

She met up with Harry in the room he shared with Ron. "Harry, why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

"What?" Harry asked absently. "Who?"

"Ron. Just tell him that you don't want to talk about Quidditch. That you wanted to be Captain."

"Hermione, I don't have time for such trivial things, such as Quidditch." Harry responded, looking at the pocket watch, Hermione had bought him for his birthday. The watch was extremely elaborate. Not only did it tell, the correct time (to a thousandth of a second) no matter where you went, but it also told you the phases of the moon, the planetary alignment, and some other non-sensible things, that she was unaware of. It had been a very expensive gift, but she knew that Harry was worth it. Not only was he her best friend, but he had also saved her life several times. Hermione was more than willing to spend all of her money that she had been saving since she was eight.

"What do you mean? You love Quidditch!" Hermione exclaimed, shocked.

"It just doesn't seem as important anymore." Harry said, once again looking at his watch.

"Harry, is this about Sirius. We've told you, you aren't to blame. It was just an unfortunate...."

"IT'S NOT, about Sirius. It's something completely different. Just shut up, Hermione, and let it be. Alright? Just this once. Then you can nag me all you want." Harry replied.

"I don't nag." Hermione said indignantly. Harry snorted derisively then looked at his watch again. Hermione was about to open her mouth to argue, when the door suddenly opened.

"I can't believe they still won't let me in the Order. I mean I'm a Prefect, I'm Quidditch Captain, I got nine O.W.L.s. What else do they want?" Ron exclaimed as he walked in the door and plopped down on his bed.

"Ron, we're too young to be in the Order." Hermione said, using Mrs. Weasley's tired, old excuse. "Besides, N.E.W.T.s are coming up next year. We need to be concentrating on them." Truthfully, Hermione would like nothing more than to be included in the Order. She was, after all, the epitome of everything that Voldemort hated. A muggle-born witch, that was smarter than all the purebloods.

"Hermione, I've been through more You-Know-Who related stuff than anyone in the Order. And I've always come out on top. If we don't deserve to be in the Order than who does?" Ron said.

"Ron, do you forget who actually did all this stuff?" Harry asked casually. Hermione knew an argument was about to begin.

"No we were all there, or did _you_ think _you_ did all of it on your own?" Ron snapped.

"Ron all you did was play chess, move rocks, break your leg, be a jealous idiot, and be just a plain idiot summoning that brain."

Ron turned bright red at this. "Don't make out like you could have played that chess game. You couldn't play chess if your life depended on it, which it very well did. Besides, if you're so great how come I was made Prefect _and _Quidditch Captain and you weren't."

"I hate to burst your bubble, Ron, but both of those badges were meant for me. Dumbledore insisted that McGonagall give them to you so I wouldn't have so much responsibilities, what with being destined to kill Voldemort and all. You weren't even McGonagall's second choice for Prefect, she wanted to give it to Dean Thomas, but Dumbledore insisted on you! He thought that by having both of my best friends as Prefects, it would keep me in line. He was obviously wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if they stripped you of Prefect status, Ron." Harry said calmly. It was his calm that scared Hermione the most. Harry usually let his emotions run rampant. She had, from her own deductions, figured that Dumbledore had played some hand in Harry not getting the Prefect badge. Ron was a good guy, but he just didn't deserve it.

Ron was struck speechless. His face turned red with fury, he was constantly clenching and unclenching his hands. Hermione could tell that he was on the verge of attacking Harry, and thinking quickly, stepped between Ron and Harry just as Ron began to step forward.

"Ron, Harry didn't mean anything by it. Did you Harry? We're all just a little stressed out."

"Oh yeah! Take his side Hermione. You always do. Wouldn't want to upset the great Harry Potter the boy-who-lived needs to be catered to his every need!" With that, Ron turned on his heel and left.

"Just let him go Hermione, it doesn't matter." Harry said, once again looking at his watch.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. He just needs to cool down a little. I'll talk to him for you later." Hermione said. Harry just shrugged and checked his watch. "You planning on going somewhere, Harry? You check your watch every five seconds."

"What? Oh, no not going anywhere. Just admiring it, that's all. It was a great gift Hermione. Thanks again." Harry replied, Hermione could feel the lie seeping off him, normally she would have kept on him about it, but something he said earlier came to mind.

"Harry, what did you mean when you said you were destined to kill Voldemort? Surely you don't think that you will have to fight him, the adults are taking care of that. If anyone is going to kill Voldemort its going to be Dumbledore."

"I wish I could leave it up to the adults, Hermione. But, like I said, it's my destiny." Harry said, once again looking at his watch.

"Harry...."

"Hermione listen. You know how we went to the Department of Mysteries at the end of school?" Harry asked, but didn't wait for a reply. "And you know how there was a Prophecy with mine and Voldemort's names on it? I told you how it was destroyed right? Well, that wasn't the only copy of it. Dumbledore had the other copy of it, he's the one who originally heard it, from Trelawny no less. One of Voldemort's henchman overheard it too, but only the first part. That's why he came after me when I was a little baby. Because of some stupid Prophecy that could be applied to either me or Neville, my parents are dead! And don't say how unreliable Divination is. Both Dumbledore and Voldemort believe this Prophecy to be true, and that's all that really matters."

"Harry—I—if it can apply to both you and Neville...."

"Then why isn't Neville being protected too?" Harry finished for her. "Because the Prophecy said that Voldemort would mark whoever it was as his equal." Harry said pointing to his famous scar. "I can't remember the exact wording, but let's just say that it refers to me, and it says that I will be the one that has to kill Voldemort, or vice-versa."

"Harry it can't be true! It just can't!" Hermione said, tears in her eyes.

"Save it Hermione." Harry said, finally snapping his watch shut. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back."

Hermione merely nodded, the tears breaking through. She could not believe what she had just learned. Why would fate put a sixteen year old boy up against the most powerful and evil dark wizard in centuries. It just wasn't fair. Harry deserved a normal and peaceful life more than anyone alive, but he would never be able to get it. He had to shoulder so many burdens. But, he wouldn't shoulder this one alone. As soon as he came back she would tell him that. She would tell him that she would be beside him no matter what. And they would go and talk to Ron and Ron would say the same thing, because that was what best friends were for.

But, Harry didn't come back. He must have had to go to the bathroom really bad (or he just needed to be alone, as Hermione suspected). He had been away so long that even Hermione, the self-proclaimed most patient person in the world, got bored and began reading her book again.

When the door did finally open, Hermione was surprised to see, not Harry, but Ginny, walk into the room. "Ron and Harry fighting again?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah. What's different?" Hermione asked.

"They are worse than girls with their petty jealousies." Ginny replied. This was common conversation between Hermione and Ginny. Every time they got together, the conversation always ended up being about Harry and Ron. They always tried to talk about different things, but since eighty-five percent of Hermione's time was spent with Harry and Ron, and Ginny's life, according to her, was so boring that the conversation inevitably turned towards Harry and Ron with the emphasis on Harry. No matter how much Ginny told everyone she was over him, it was obvious that she was still short of obsessed with Harry. Hermione was willing to bet a thousand Galleons that Ginny would stop her own wedding for a chance to date Harry.

"So what are they arguing about now?" Ginny asked with mild curiosity. "I know Ron's pretty mad. He was in Buckbeak's old room throwing stuff around."

Hermione never got a chance to answer Ginny's question. There was a loud commotion coming from downstairs that distracted the both of them. They both shot out of the room and down the stairs as quickly as possible. What they saw confused them greatly. Order members were running around in complete disarray. Some were yelling for someone to get a Healer over here, others were yelling for the Magical Law Enforcement to be called in, while still others spoke despondently about something not being able to be true.

Hermione tried unsuccessfully to get someone's attention, to figure out what was going on. It wasn't until Ron came down and shouted for the world to hear: "what the hell's going on!?"

Everyone froze for a second, before continuing running to wherever it was they were going. It was Tonks who finally acknowledged them and that was because she tripped over the carpet and they rushed to help her up. "Tonks why's everyone running around like a chicken with its head cut off." Hermione asked. Ron and Ginny looked at her as though she were crazy, but Tonks knew what she meant.

"It's Harry...." she began to be cut off by Ginny.

"What about Harry? Nothing's happened to him, right?" Ginny asked, panic etched in her voice.

"He's gone off his rocker that's what's happened to him!" was Tonks's answer, tears in her eyes.

"What'd he do now?" Ron asked, as though he expected nothing less.

"He burst in on the Order meeting and began shouting this nonsense about how Dumbledore was trying to kill him or something like that. Then he says that he's going to join You-Know-Who, and he pulls out his wand, and he—he—he just killed Dumbledore! Dumbledore's dead!" Tonks blurted out. The tears started to flow. "I can't believe he would do something like that. I just can't believe it. I've got to go. I've got to try and find him before he does something even dumber. I can't believe this is happening!" Tonks said as she got to her feet and rushed off.

(End Flashback)

* * *

Hermione was still lost in her musings as she slowly entered the Great Hall. It was for this reason that she did not immediately notice how quiet it got suddenly. When she did notice, she felt that she truly knew what it was like to be Harry Potter entering a room full of people. Every head in the Great Hall was turned to look at Hermione and she hated every second of it. She had tired to come early, so as to beat the crowd, but it looked as though everyone had decided to come early.

As she walked down to the end of the table and sat down, it was as though a signal went off for everyone to begin whispering. The second years that she sat beside nearly trampled each other in there attempt to get as far away from Hermione as possible. They were treating her as though she were a leper.

She was heartened when she saw the rest of her year enter the Great Hall. Any confidence that had been instilled in her was quickly shattered as she saw that they were surrounding Ron. They were probably buying into the crap that Ron was selling about Harry.

The first words out of Ron's mouth when they found out about Harry were: "I knew it!" Hermione had asked what he had knew, completely befuddled as to what he was talking about. Then Ron had gone on about how, at the beginning of their fifth year, he had begun to suspect that something was off about Harry. How he had figured out that Harry was beginning to, if not already, side with Voldemort. Of course he did not say Voldemort, he said You-Know-Who.

As Ron and his group sat down, Neville broke off and came to sit beside Hermione. "Is what he says true?" Neville asked, not needing to clarify who _he _was. Hermione knew who he was speaking of. "Did he really duel Harry?"

"What!?"

"Ron. He said that after Harry killed Dumbledore, Harry fought his way through all the Aurors and everything and then came face to face with Ron. Then they dueled, and Ron was winning, but then Harry cheated and ran away. Is that true?"

"What!?" was all Hermione could manage.

"He's been telling that to everyone. The sad thing about it is some people actually believe it. But, _I_ know that there is no way that any of it is true. Harry could never have killed Dumbledore. Even if he did somehow manage it, which is highly unlikely, Ron would never be able to beat him in a duel. Harry's a hundred times better than Ron! I didn't want to say anything to Ron, but I think that I may be better than him too." Neville explained.

When Hermione managed to regain her composure and actually close her mouth, she answered Neville's question, somewhat dejectedly. "You're right about one thing, Neville. Hell would freeze over before Ron could actually managed to beat Harry in a duel." Hermione said, exaggerating. Hell would only have to be a little frosty for Ron to beat Harry. "Unfortunately, Ron wasn't lying about the other thing. Harry did murder Dumbledore." There, she had said it aloud. Now there was absolutely no going back. Neville still looked unbelieving, so Hermione handed him her copy of the Daily Prophet.

**Boy-Who-Lived or Boy-Who-Killed?**

Harry Potter was once believed to be the savior of the Wizarding World, _writes Rita Skeeter Special Correspondent. _He single handedly defeated the vilest, most evil Wizard in half a century. On October 31, 1981, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named entered the house of one James and Lily Potter with the sole intent of killing Harry Potter. However, when You-Know-Who cast the killing curse upon this one-year-old, it was somehow blocked and rebounded upon He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Recent events have made the validity of this story to come into question.

Details of the events have not been released, but on the afternoon of 31 August, one Harry Potter entered the domesticity of one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. After an argument, witnessed by one Minerva McGonagall (Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts) and Filius Flitwick (Charms professor at Hogwarts), Potter then withdrew his wand on the unsuspecting Headmaster and cast the most unforgivable curse of the Unforgivables, Avada Kedavra. Dumbledore was pronounced dead at 15:32 P.M. (Turn to pg 2 for Obituary).

This brings up the question as to how a one year-old can survive a killing-curse cast by You-Know-Who, when the most powerful wizard of our time, Albus Dumbledore, could not survive that of a sixteen year-old child. Did Harry Potter really survive the killing-curse? Or, was it some elaborate plot conceived by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to throw us into a false sense of safety while he regrouped and regained power. One must also considered the part that James and Lily Potter played in this plot. Were they part of the plot, but changed their minds at the last second causing their deaths? Are they truly as dead as people would have you believe? The answers to these questions and more remain secret to all but You-Know-Who and possibly the once Boy-Who-Lived, now Boy-Who-Kills. (For further articles on this topic turn to pages 3, 5, 8, and 9)

"Wow!" was all Neville managed.

"Does that answer your question?" Hermione asked tears coming to her eyes.

"I–I never thought it possible! H–how could he do something like that?"

"You're guess is as good as mine." Hermione said, the tears flowing. "I never saw it coming. I don't know how I didn't, but I never saw it coming. Perhaps if I'd payed closer attention, I could have seen the warning signs and done something to prevent it. But, now it's to late. It's over and done with and no matter how much I wish it wasn't true, Harry's never coming back." Hermione said, covering her face with her hands.

Neville felt more than awkward at having a girl crying near him and so did the only thing he could think of. He patted her on the back. "Hermione, you're not to blame for this. No one is besides You-Know-Who. No one saw this coming. Not even Ron, despite what he's saying."

Hermione knew that he was right. Knew that she was being foolish, that she wasn't helping anyone by breaking down like this, but she couldn't help it. Everything had come to a head now and she wasn't quite ready to handle it.

* * *

A strange man walked down Diagon Alley with the hood of his cloak sufficiently covering his face. Everyone who saw him coming gave this stranger a wide berth, not daring to get in his way. Those unlucky enough to not see him coming were nonchalantly shoved out of his way. What no one saw, not even the mysterious stranger, was the rat following him.

Upon reaching his destination, the stranger was forced to lower his hood. The Ministry had begun to enact new rules, one being a security check at the entrance to Gringotts. The goblins had been directly opposed to this from the beginning, but the Ministry being the Ministry was able to apply pressure to the correct spots and coerce the goblins into relenting.

It wasn't to protect the bank per se, but to stop any wanted fugitives from entering the bank and accessing their funds. Namely, Harry Potter and the rest of the Death Eaters who escaped the Ministry held prison. Fudge had been coming under some heavy heat as of late, and this was a last ditch effort to save his job. Needless to say it had the opposite effect that Fudge wanted. It merely incited the people more, feeling that Fudge was overstepping his bounds. In today's society, nobody wanted anything between them and their money. This and the simple fact that it didn't work at all.

As it were the third most wanted fugitive of the law, was able to pass the security check easily, even with photos of him right next to the desk.

Harry Potter was the stranger walking down Diagon Alley. Their were two reasons why Harry was shoving people out of his path in the most menacing way he thought possible. One, to simply keep people from paying him much mind. Everyone in this world were such cowards, that when someone pushed them down, they wouldn't get back up until their aggressor was long gone and would go to far stretches to avoid said person. Two, and this was the true reason, was to keep his follower from being suspicious of him.

He wasn't supposed to know someone was following him, and in fact had no idea who or where this person/persons were, but he thought it one of the most obvious things. Voldemort had be trusting of Harry outwardly, but Harry knew that his every move was still watched. And why wouldn't they be? If Voldemort was truly trusting of Harry, then it would be time to worry.

"Name and business?" came the voice of the security Auror efficiently snapping Harry out of his musings. "Lower your hood please, sir." The Auror said lazily.

Harry lowered his hood before answering with sarcasm. "Name's Hugh Jass, as for business, I was thinking I'd grab a bite to eat."

"Sorry Mr. Jass, but this is a bank it only deals with the exchanging of monies." The guard answered with all seriousness.

"Hmm. Who would have thought it? A bank that deals with money! Absolutely unheard of. Well, while I'm here I might as well fill up my money bag." Harry retorted laying the sarcasm on as thick as he could.

"Alright Mr. Jass you'll need to check your wand here, and I'll have to search you." The guard answered holding out his hand. Harry handed the guard his wand, which was placed on the familiar scales. Then the guard ran the golden rod down his back and then up his front. When it reach his neck it started vibrating glowing and vibrating slightly. "What charm do you have on your throat and why?" the guard asked taking on a more serious tone, his hand reaching into his pocket to grasp his wand.

"Well, sonny, my voice is normally all high pitched and squeaky. It makes it impossible for people to take me seriously. So I found this neat little charm that deeps my voice so I don't have this problem."

"Okay." the guard said believingly. "Let's see about your wand. Holly, 11 inches, Phoenix feather. In use five years. Good, have a nice day Mr. Jass."

Harry put his hood back up as he walked pass the guard and put up his menacing demeanor. There was hardly anyone in the bank and Harry had his choice of goblins to choose from. Walking up to the nearest one, he slammed his key down and said simply: "Withdrawal."

"Vault number?" The goblin inquired.

"222." Harry replied. The goblin was about to turn when a question came to Harry's head. "Wait! Is there an easier way than filling up my bag with a bunch of coins. I'm going to be making some large purchases."

"Very well, follow me." The goblin said turning and lead Harry towards an office. Harry was indicated to take a seat and as he was doing so the goblin left only to be replaced by another before he could finish.

"You inquired about our Easy Pay Plan?" The goblin asked.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Simple. You have a set of checks. Upon paying for something, you write in the cost and then endorse the checks. At the end of the business day the money is moved from your vault directly to the proprietor's. Gringotts take a 2 percent service charge for all transactions taken from your account directly. At the end of the month we mail you a form listing all of your transactions for that month and your current balance." The goblin explained.

"That sounds fair. What do I need to do?" Harry asked.

"Fill this out. Then it will take about five minutes for everything to be processed and your checks to be made." The goblin informed, handing Harry a form.

Harry gave the form a quick once over, barely reading it. It basically said the same thing the goblin told him, except in more formal terms. At the bottom was a space for his vault number, to print his name, and then to sign his name. Harry was about to fill out the form signing his name and everything, when he thought of what he was doing. What would people do when he handed them a check signed by Harry Potter? Probably freak out and yell for Aurors.

"Question. Do I have to use my original vault? And do I have to sign my real name? My status in this country isn't exactly legal." Harry said, his hand on his wand preparing to stun this goblin and run out of the bank at any sign of trouble.

The goblin looked at him with narrowing eyes, as if measuring him. Harry was about to go with his escape plan, when suddenly the goblin relaxed and Harry followed suit. "You can use whichever vault you want as long as you can prove ownership. Most of the famous witches and wizards use either their family crest, or if they don't have a family crest, an alter ego."

"Alright, I'll use an alter ego." Harry stated.

The goblin reached across the desk and tapped the paper with his finger. At the bottom of the page two new lines appeared. One labeled 'Print Real Name' and one labeled 'Sign Real Name.' Harry filled out the necessary information, taking less than a minute. When he was done he handed the goblin the paper, and then his key when asked.

When the goblin left, apparently to set everything in order, Harry was reminded how he had come into possession of vault number two-hundred and twenty-two.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

Harry had been sitting in his room at 4 Privet Drive bored out of his mind since school had let out. This year had probably been his best summer ever despite what had happened at the Ministry. He had been at Privet drive for less than a day when he got a letter Fudge. Basically it was about half a foot of butt kissing parchment. Fudge had finally apologized for what he had done to Harry. The word 'sorry' had appeared twenty-three times. It was three specific paragraphs that had shocked, and pleased him to no end.

_Harry, your life within the wizarding world has not been a pleasant one. Since the day you were born you have been in constant danger whenever the wizarding world has been involved. Trouble seems to seek you out for destruction, and you always have the best interests of everyone else on your mind. Even when no one believes you, you hold strong in your convictions. You have saved Hogwarts, and probably the entire world, through your actions numerous times. One particular incident comes to my mind. It happened in your third year at Hogwarts, when the notorious criminal Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban prison._ _You helped in the confrontation and capture of Mr. Black and when you told me of your findings I turned a deaf ear towards them, thinking that you were delirious. This is just one of the many mistakes that I have made concerning you and I hope that you can accept my apology, I'm sorry. As such I have issued that a full and unquestioned pardon be given to Sirius Orion Black, effective immediately._

_Unfortunately, it has come to my attention the Mr. Black passed away during the events in the Department of Mysteries earlier this summer. I know the pardon does nothing ease the pain that he had to endure the twelve years that he was imprisoned, but I hope that it will allow him to die in peace with everybody knowing the truth, that he was a great, innocent man who was imprisoned unjustly. _

_Mr. Black has left behind a will naming as one of his inheritors. You will be receiving a letter from Gringotts bank asking that you attend a meeting for the reading of the will on 26th of July. I would also ask that you make a stop at the Ministry on that day. Please come to the Improper Use of Magic Office, where we will remove the Ministry's tracking charms on your wand. This would usually happen on the day of your seventeenth birthday, but given current events I feel that it would be wise if you were able to preform magic outside of school to protect yourself._

The letter went on about how Harry was the sole voice of truth and a lot of other stupid stuff that Harry didn't really care about at all. It was only these three paragraphs that he actually read thoroughly. At first Harry was pissed that now, when it was too late, the Minister actually believed him and gave Sirius the pardon he rightly deserved fifteen years ago. He had thrown his school stuff all over the room and made promises of cursing Fudge to hell and back again when the charms were removed from his wand.

Soon, though, Harry calmed. He knew that his anger, while justified, was not going to help anything. After all, they all had the same end in mind. It was the means to get this end that were different. Eventually, they would all have to work together to achieve their common goal. That's why when Dumbledore arrived a few days later, Harry didn't yell and scream at him like a little child would.

Dumbledore explained that he had received a letter from the Minister very much like the one Harry had received. Fudge was all apologies to everyone he knew was in league with Dumbledore, even going as far as to give Mr. Weasley a substantial raise. The Minister, knowing that Harry was close to Dumbledore, also wrote how he was lifting the tracking charms on Harry's wand.

"Harry, about your trip to Gringotts and the Ministry on the 26th...." Dumbledore started.

"Don't even say it isn't safe to go or and crap like that. I'm going and that's all there is to it." Harry interrupted.

"The thought never crossed my mind." Dumbledore chuckled. "I told you at the end of the school year that I was going to keep you more informed, and that is what I'm here to do. I was merely going to say is that Remus, Nymphadora and Andromeda Tonks, and myself will be escorting you there. We have also been summoned for the reading of Sirius's will. The reading won't be taking place until Noon, so we will be taking you to the Ministry first. Be ready to leave at 8:00 A.M. on the 26th"

"Oh." Harry said, shocked at how he overreacted. "That's fine with me. So what's Voldemort up to?" Harry asked.

"Not much. Voldemort hasn't been seen since the Department of Mystery incident." Dumbledore said. "Capturing ten of his inner-circle was very detrimental to his plans. He has taken sanctuary in his old 'base of operations' as it were. There has only been two meetings since the Department of Mysteries, and those were simply to punish everyone for anything and everything he could think of. We have reason to believe that he is plotting the liberation of his inner-circle."

"I thought he controlled the Dementors. Why doesn't he just have them let the prisoners go?" Harry asked.

"Because, the Dementors are no longer in control of Azkaban. There are other 'things' guarding the prison now." Dumbledore explained.

It was at that moment that the letter that would truly change his life came. A bright white tennis ball looking owl flew through the window and hit Harry between the eyes. The owl merely bounced off and then began flying around the room at a high pace. At first he thought it was Pig, Ron's owl. The owl was the same size and had the same exuberant attitude. The only difference was that this owl was bright white, like Hedwig. Harry put this off to either Ron accidently turning Pig white or Fred and George doing it on purpose.

Dumbledore was chuckling merrily as he watched Harry scramble to grab the white owl. Finally, Harry caught the 'hyperactive piece of shit,' as he thought of it, and removed the letter. He then walked over to the window and was about to throw the bird out as hard as he could, when he remembered that the Headmaster was still there and thought twice about it. Simply letting the owl go, Harry turned his attention to the letter.

Harry read the letter once over quite quickly, then had to read it a second and third time as his brain began to process the information. "Professor, either someone is playing a very stupid prank, or—or—I can't think of anything right now. Just read it." Harry said handing the letter over to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, who had stopped laughing as he saw Harry's reaction, took the offered letter and began reading.

_Harry Potter_,

_First, allow me to congratulate you on you escape from the Department of Mysteries. I have surely underestimated you, for you to still be alive. Also, my congratulations on your capture of ten of my best Servants. You truly are a born leader. Those five children followed you to there would be certain deaths without a question. You were able to formulate a plan while under great pressure, and to be able to have that plan work to your great success. Well done. Do not let this go to your head though. Believe me when I said it will never happen again. My loyal subjects will be released soon and will meet a punishment from me, that your Ministry would never dream of enacting. Once they are free, I will turn all of my attention to your untimely demise. Unless, that is, you make a wise decision and join me. Surely you must know of the great potential you have to become one of the most powerful wizards of our time._ _I speak the truth when I tell you that you will never achieve the level that you are destined at Hogwarts._

_If power is not enough to persuade you to joining me, allow me to provide another. If you remember, we met for the second time during your first year at Hogwarts. I was a mere shadow of what I was, and am today, forced to take possession of your not so esteemed Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Quirenius Quirrell. If you were to believe Dumbledore, he had no idea that I was in possession of Quirrell. But, the truth is that he knew from the beginning. Dumbledore is almost as skilled in Legilimency as I am. He should have easily seen that something was off with Quirrell, and through the powers of deduction figured out what it was. Instead, your Headmaster found it pertinent to tell Quirrell all about the Philosopher's Stone. My original goal of possessing Quirrell was simply to eliminate Dumbledore, but when I learned of the Philosopher's Stone, I saw my way to regain power and made that my sole purpose. _

_I have only personally met with you four times, yet on each occasion I have been forthright with my intentions. Your Headmaster has been less than so. I have recently been informed that you had no clue as to what you were, growing up. After the death of your parents at my hands, Dumbledore shipped you off to uncaring Muggles, who treated you as though you were less than human. But, as I have said, you are much more. Dumbledore didn't even see fit to tell you about the Prophecy that was made about you and I. I was well aware of its existence as were all of my subjects. Perhaps if Dumbledore had thought more of you to tell you the Prophecy, your Godfather would still be alive. Has he even been preparing you for our eventual meeting? How can you trust a person who doesn't trust you? I make a promise that if you were to join me, nothing would be hidden from you. You would be made aware of everything, and I would personally train you to become the great Wizard that I know you are._

_I leave the choice in your hands. Join me and together we will conquer this world and make it whatever we want it to be. Refuse and die. I will give you one week to make up your mind. If you make the right decision and choose to join me, send a response with your owl, it will get to me. Do not tell anyone of your decision. If you choose to defy me—Prepare for death. As a show of faith, I will teach you the art of Occlumency that you should have been taught a long time ago. When you go to sleep tonight, I will visit you in your dreams. There I will teach you everything you need to know._

_Lord Voldemort_

"Harry I must go." Dumbledore said hurriedly. "I must analyze this letter. Do not tell anyone of its existence. Do not send anymore letters at all. Do not leave your house without an escort. I think your home is being watched. I will contact with you in a few days."

"Does that mean we won't be going to Gringotts?"Harry asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I don't want to make a promise that I may have to break."

"What about my dreams tonight?" Harry asked, a little nervously at the thought of being visited by Voldemort.

"There is nothing we can do about that. I could block your mind tonight by a simple spell, but Voldemort would know that you had told me of the letter. He will see that as an open defiance." Dumbledore explained.

"But I am going to say no! There's no way in hell I'd join him!" Harry exclaimed.

"I know. But, if Voldemort is having your house watched as I suspect. He could have your house attacked tonight."

"I thought you said the blood magic would protect me! You said that this was the safest place for me! That I couldn't be touched here! Why the hell am I staying here, in this shithole, if it isn't serving as some kind of protection!" Harry shouted. He was starting to get very pissed off, and his scar was starting to burn a little.

"Harry calm down. The blood magic is the best protection for you, but it isn't perfect. Voldemort may have found a way around it. Very unlikely, but you can never tell with a wizard as smart and gifted as Tom Riddle. I will have the guard on your house doubled, but until we can be positive, you mustn't stray far from your house." Dumbledore reasoned.

"Alright. When am I getting out of here? Can I just stay at—that place after my business at the Ministry and Gringotts is taken care of?" Harry asked hopefully.

"We'll see, Harry. It is a very likely possibility." Dumbledore said and then bade him good-bye before disapparating without a sound.

The second Harry fell asleep, it was as though he woke up again right away. He was still in his small little bed, but he was no longer in 4 Privet Drive. The room was pure white. No walls or ceiling could be seen. The ground that Harry stepped on was firm, but appeared to be made out of clouds. The first thought to cross Harry's mind was, 'Am I dead?' followed shortly by, 'Is this Heaven?'

"Heaven, no." intoned a voice from behind Harry. "Welcome, Harry, to my nightmare!"

Harry immediately recognized the voice that was coming from behind him and it was the last voice that he wanted to hear. He immediately reached inside his robes, _when did I put on robes? _for his wand, but it wasn't there. He searched his beside table, but as soon as his eyes fell on it, it disappeared along with his bed. Resigned to his fate, Harry looked up to his murderer.

But, it wasn't Voldemort. Harry had seen Voldemort twice since his rebirth, and the memory was forever etched in his mind. But, this wasn't him. This person looked nothing like the Voldemort Harry had known.

"But, I am Lord Voldemort." The person said patronizingly. "This is how I looked before you destroyed my body."

It sounded exactly like what Harry knew Voldemort to sound like. But, this couldn't be him. This person actually looked human.

"Is it so hard to believe, Potter. This is the Dream World, _I_ control it. I could look however I want." Suddenly, the Voldemort that Harry remembered was there, and when Harry blinked the human Voldemort was back. "I can change the scenery to anything I want." Voldemort made a sweeping motion of his arm, and they were instantly in a vast desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. Not only could Harry see the desert, he could _feel _it. The hot dry air. The wind wiping his robes about, blowing the sand in his face, stinging his unguarded eyes. That was when Harry realized that he wasn't wearing his glasses, but he could see with perfect clarity. "I can even change things about _you_." Voldemort snapped his fingers and suddenly Harry was dressed in a yellow sun dress and he had long flowing blonde hair. The wind blew strongly and the dress flew up, revealing all there was to see, which Harry was shocked to see that they were women's parts. Another snap of his fingers, and Voldemort changed Harry back to normal.

"So what are you going to do? Kill me?" Harry asked trying to sound brave and failing.

"Kill you? Yes, I suppose I could do that. But, it would defeat my purpose. I want _you_ to join _me_. I want to train you so that you would be as strong as I am. Together we would rule this world. Do not sit there and tell me that you are happy with the way things are. Your only living relatives hate you, they pretend that you don't exist. And yet, Dumbledore sends you back here every year. Last year, the Ministry of Magic had a campaign against you, defaming you character, making as though you were mentally disturbed. Some of your so called friends actually believed them over you. If the Daily Prophet is singing your praises one moment, the next they call for your head on a platter. Your best friend is insanely jealous of you, to the point where he goes behind your back and makes fun of you trying to make himself more popular. Surely, you don't want that."

"It's the best that I've got, the best that the world will ever be. Once you die that is." Harry said pressing his luck.

"The best the world will ever be? The only reason the world is as shitty as it is, is because the muggles have been allowed to have free reign for centuries. Their machines pollute the air, kill the wild life, poison the waters. The world did not know war until the muggles came into existence. They kill each other over petty differences as race, ethnicity, and creed. If they are allowed to continue, unopposed, they will eventually destroy the world." Voldemort preached.

"Petty differences!" Harry exclaimed incredulously. "That is the same reason you kill people! Because their blood isn't pure, because their parents may have been born without something that you all take for granted. The same thing that you are, a half-blood, is what you want to kill! Talk about a hypocrite!"

Harry had expected Voldemort to be enraged by this, anything but what happened. Voldemort shook his head in disappointment. "Once again, Harry, you have been misinformed by Dumbledore. Yes, I may have a hatred for Mudbloods and Half-bloods, but that is not all I am about. I mean to unite the world under one central power. My power. Any great leader knows, that to unite the world, some must be killed. Freedoms must be taken away. The inhabitants of this earth, only look to today, never tomorrow. They want their freedom now, not caring if they destroy the future. Some freedoms must be taken away for everyone to live truly free. But, I have not come to argue philosophy with you. I have come to teach you the intricate art of Occlumency and Legilimency, if we have time. There is no way of knowing how fast time is passing in the real world. Here one week could pass, with only one hour passing in the real world. Or, you could spend one hour in here and the entire night could have passed in the real world. We must get started." Voldemort explained. "Now the first thing you must do...."

Harry spent the next twenty-three hours, learning and perfecting the art of Occlumency, and the basics of Legilimency. Voldemort, it turned out, was an excellent teacher. Perhaps one of the best that Harry had ever had. His patience seemed to have no bound. Harry learnt, what took Voldemort seven months to learn, in twenty-hours. The weird thing was, that Harry never tired. Sure, he got bored at doing the same things over and over again until he could do them without thinking, but he never grew fatigued.

Harry was just about to start to learn the basics of Legilimency, when a pounding shook the foundations of the world. "Your body is beginning to fade." Voldemort stated. "You must be awakening. I have taught you all there is to know of Occlumency. If you wish to continue with your lessons in Legilimency, simply do not put your guards up around mind when you go to sleep tonight and I will bring you back here."

The pounding continued, now seeming to come from the inside of his head. Harry closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was back in his bed at 4 Privet Drive. Aunt Petunia was pounding against the wall, yelling for him to wake up.

Harry leapt from his bed and whipped the door open with a lot more force than he wanted to. "What the hell do you want!?" Harry yelled at her.

Petunia opened her mouth about to yell at her ungrateful nephew when she thought twice. "Breakfast is ready, come down and eat before it gets cold." She said in the kindest voice she could manage under the circumstances.

"Alright, I'll be down in a minute." Harry said massaging the bridge of his nose. His head was pounding harder than it had ever done before. Trying to ignore the pain Harry got dressed, and quickly went downstairs. Halfway through the meal, the pain became unbearable and Harry did the last thing he thought he would ever do. He asked his Aunt for advice.

"Aunt Petunia." he said getting her attention.

"What do you want?"

"I've got a killer headache. Do we have any potions for it?" Harry asked, not thinking clearly.

"Potions?" Petunia asked in a normal voice.

"POTIONS!" Vernon shouted, then remembering himself he hissed. "Potions! Where do you think you are boy? I won't have any of that—you know what I'm talking about. Just don't let it happen again." Vernon said trying to calm himself.

"Here," Petunia said slamming a bottle of Tylenol down on the table. "Take two."

"Thanks," Harry said popping two in his mouth after fighting to get the lid off the damn child proof bottle. After cleaning up after himself, Harry went back up to his room to lay down until the Tylenol took affect. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had other things in mind.

"Harry how was your sleep?" Dumbledore asked from his place at Harry's desk.

"Decent if you count being taught Occlumency by an actual civil Voldemort, and then waking up with a killer headache." Harry answered sarcastically.

"So he did indeed visit you. How much did he teach you?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"Everything he knew, supposedly. I don't know if he taught me everything or not. His teaching methods were extremely different than Snape's, so I have nothing to compare to. Also, he could just be leading me into a false sense of security. Teaching me what he wanted me to know, but leaving a back door so he could access my mind easily." Harry explained.

"Well, he seems to have taught you the main part of Occlumency, the arranging of your mind. There's only one way to test if you have completely learnt it or not. Raise your shields and I will try to enter your mind."

"Go ahead, they already are."

"Very well." Dumbledore said simply, gazing intently into Harry's eyes. A look of shock over came his face, that was so quickly replaced that Harry thought he imagined it, before Dumbledore was set with a more determined look. After about a minute a bead of sweat rolled down Dumbledore's face and then he broke contact.

Harry felt a tingling sensation on the outside of his mind as Dumbledore's mediocre attempt at breaking into his mind failed. Then, with Dumbledore's determined look, Harry felt as though a thick needle was slowly prying away at his mind. He felt his guards slipping and quickly brought up more. The probe broke through the original guards completely just as Harry set up his reinforcements. The reinforcements began to break away and Harry quickly added more.

Suddenly, the probe disappeared and Harry heard Dumbledore chuckling. Harry began massaging his temples as his headache increased its ferocity. "Here." Dumbledore said as he produced two small vials from within his robes. "I always carry Headache Cures, just incase I overexert myself." Handing one of the vials to Harry, Dumbledore quickly downed the other and Harry soon followed suit. "Those were some pretty impressive mental shields you have there. I especially liked the vulgar messages that you left out. They do a wonderful job at distracting a would be intruder. Being bombarded by profanity and derogatory messages is not something that is easily ignored." Dumbledore chuckled merrily.

"I'm sorry about that Professor!" Harry exclaimed in shock. "I completely forgot about those." One aspect of Occlumency was distraction. You were to let memories float on the outside of your mind to distract and confuse the attacker. An experienced Occlumens never heard, or even thought of any of these memories, they were simply there. Harry's distractive memories, were every single swearword and derogative phrase he could think of.

After the distractive memories, came the Outer Shell. The Outer Shell was as its name implies, an outer shell around a persons memories. It was the thickest part of the protective barrier that Occlumency forms around one's memories. After the Outer Shell comes more distractive memories. These are to be completely different from the originals. Otherwise the attacker would recognize them for what they were immediately, and simply brush them aside. For his secondary distractive memories, Harry choose the most disgusting and disturbing images he could imagine. These are why he was completely embarrassed, he knew that Dumbledore had taken witness to these memories. One of these distractive memories wasn't really a memory, more of a nightmare of the worst kind. It included a completely naked Dolores Umbridge smiling and winking seductively.

These secondary distractive memories were also ignored by the Occlumens, which Harry thanked God for. After these distractive memories was the Inner Shell. The Inner Shell was the easiest part of the mental barrier to pass. It was there merely to keep the memories in place. Once the Outer Shell was breached the Occlumens would have to continually reinforce the Inner Shell until the spell or eye contact could be broken.

The Outer and Inner Shells, as well as all the distractive memories, were the easiest aspects of Occlumency. Together they took Harry approximately four hours of continual practice to perfect. It was the organizing of memories, that indicates a Master Occlumens, which took the first nineteen hours to complete. Now, whenever Harry had trouble remembering something, it was as though he physically entered his brain and was able to walk around and search through filing cabinets, that contained everything he knew, for the lost memory. There was also an incinerator in the middle of his 'Brain Room' that was used for destroying memories that he did not want to remember, or to simply make room for more.

An upside to organizing memories, was that it made accessing the easier and allowed for Harry to think clearer than he had ever done before. A downside was that it made memories easier to access by an intruder. This was countered by the 'Secret Room' method. The 'Secret Room' was a room that only Harry could enter. Not even Voldemort, the self-proclaimed Master of Legilimency, could enter this room. This is where Harry stored his deepest secrets and desires. The first thing to go in there was the Prophecy, which oddly enough Voldemort didn't even try to look at.

"Think nothing of it. They were all excellent distraction, if somewhat disturbing. I do hope that you never _truly _experienced those images." Dumbledore said still chuckling.

"No, thank God. Those were just the most disturbing things I could imagine. I'll probably have nightmares about it for the rest of my life." Harry said disgustedly.

"One thing I don't understand is how you managed to learn all of this in one night? You couldn't have been sleeping for more than ten hours and that's only if you went to sleep directly after I left." Dumbledore questioned.

"It's the place that Voldemort took me too." Harry started. "It was a Dream World that he had near complete control over. He could do anything he wanted there, except control time. He said that time had its own set of rules there that no one could understand. A week could pass in there, but only an hour in the real world. Or hours could pass in the real world, while only a minute passed there. We were lucky this time. Twenty-three hours passed there while the entire night passed here."

"Outstanding." Dumbledore mused. "Wait, you said you were lucky this time. Do you plan on going back?"

"No. Well, I don't know. I was going to ask you if I should. Voldemort said that if I wanted to learn Legilimency, all I had to do was leave our link unblocked. That's another thing I wanted to tell you about. Voldemort showed me where our link originates, and how he manipulated it last year. He also showed me how to block it." Harry explained.

"Remarkable. I just don't get this move of Tom's. Why teach you Occlumency? Why show you how he manipulated your link, and then how to block it?" Dumbledore mused. "As for your question: I feel it would be best if you closed off your link, and keep it closed forever."

"But, wouldn't that bring on an attack from Voldemort?" Harry asked worriedly. He was worried about being attacked by Voldemort, but part of him also wanted to go back into that Dream World to learn Legilimency. He could just imagine all the things he would be able to do, knowing it.

"That brings me to the original reason for my visit. I feel that it is no longer safe for you here, so you will finish the rest of your summer holiday's at Headquarters. The Weasley's and Miss Granger will be most happy to see you." Dumbledore explained. "I have managed to pull a few strings and got your visit to the Ministry and the reading of Sirius's will moved to today. We have to be at the Ministry at eight and then Gringotts at nine. Speaking of the time, it is time we left. I've arranged a Portkey to take us directly to the Ministry's atrium. If you'd please place a finger on this bottle we can leave in 5—4—3...."

Harry placed his finger on the end of the bottle and when Dumbledore reached zero he felt the familiar tug behind his navel.

"It's about time!" came a scratchy voice. "You're eight seconds late. Let's get this over and done with!"

"I am most sorry, Ragnok. We were having a very important discussion. By all means proceed." Dumbledore patronized the Goblin whose office they were currently in.

"I need to go get the papers from my supervisors, I'll be back. Don't. Move." Ragnok responded. While he was walking out of the room Ragnok was muttering in a combination of Gobbledegook and English. The only words Harry could recognize were, 'inconsiderate' and 'waste of my time.'

Harry took this time to look around at who was already there. The first person he recognized was Remus Lupin. Harry greeted him with a "hello Professor," to which Remus replied with, "hello Harry, and it's just Remus."

"Wotcher Harry!" Came the always joyful voice of Nymphadora Tonks. "Muggles treating you well? Taking heed of our 'advice?'" Tonks was sporting a particular violent shade of fluorescent orange hair.

"Hello, Tonks." Harry answered simply.

"You must be Harry. Nymphadora has told me so much about you." came the voice of the third and final voice. And with a moan of '_mum' _from Tonks, Harry named this person to be Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora's mother.

"Hello Mrs. Tonks." Harry said politely.

"Please call me Andromeda. Ever since she met you, Nymphadora has done nothing speak your praises." This elicited another moan from Nymphadora. "You know, she's only twenty years old. That's only four years older than you if I have my information correct. Nymphadora could use a good boyfriend like you. She hardly ever leaves the house. Just goes to work at the Auror office, then goes to work for, well you know. Then she just comes home and sulks. Hasn't been on a proper date since her Fifth Year at Hogwarts." Andromeda rambled on.

"MUM!" Nymphadora shouted. "I can't believe you're trying to set me on a date with Harry Potter! No, offense to you Harry. I mean I think your hot and everything, but—what I meant to say is that—you'd obviously never—I'm going to shut up now. And so are you mum! I can't believe this is happening."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about Nymphadora. You're a beautiful young woman. He's a handsome young man. And if what you say of him is true, he'd be nothing but nice to you. Let's face it, you're not getting any younger. Who cares if he's younger than you? I'm seven years younger than your father. If you feel that weird about it, just make yourself look younger. Nobody would know the difference."

"Harry, I'm really sorry you're being put through this." Nymphadora apologize. "No matter how much my Mother says she's changed, she still has some of the Pureblood values. She thinks it's a mortal sin not to be married directly after Hogwarts. She nearly had a fit when I told her I wanted to be an Auror."

"I didn't have a _fit_. I just feel that it isn't a woman's place to be in Law Enforcement. That's a man's job. I supported you through it even when the rest of the Wizarding world thought it was ludicrous. With a strong, wealthy man like Harry here you'd be able to finally quit your job and settle down, start a family. I could finally get my Grandchildren to spoil rotten, and I wouldn't have to worry whether or not you'd come home alive." Andromeda explained.

"I'm not going to marry Harry for his money! That would be unfair to him!" Nymphadora exclaimed.

"I'm not saying marry him for his money only. He's also very handsome. And you're always going on about how wonderful he is. Think about your children. They'd be almost guaranteed to be beautiful. And there's no doubt that they'd be magically powerful."

Harry didn't think that anymore blood could rush to his head from embarrassment. Here he was, a sixteen year old, and they were talking about him getting married and having children. He only ever had one girlfriend for god's sake! That's when he heard the low chuckling coming from behind him. He turned to look for the source of the laughter, only to be met with a Remus Lupin barely holding in his mirth and an Albus Dumbledore trying, and failing miserably, to keep a straight face. Harry gave them the worst death glare he could muster, which only succeeded in making Lupin let his laughter free and Dumbledore chuckling merrily once again.

Seeing that his glare wasn't working, and Nymphadora and her mother showed no signs of stopping, Harry gave Dumbledore a look that pleaded for help. Finally, Dumbledore took pity on him and with the agonizingly slow pace of a three-toed sloth walked over to Andromeda and put his hand on her shoulder. Andromeda looked startled for a second, but quickly turned back to her argument with her daughter.

"While this conversation is most amusing," Dumbledore started after clearing his throat. "I believe that Mr. Ragnok is returning with the proper paperwork.

Sure enough, seconds after Dumbledore finished his statement, the door open and admitted Ragnok back into the room.

"We are here today, for the reading of one Sirius Orion Black's Last Will and Testament.

_I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and body hereby bequeath the following:_

_To Remus Lupin: I donate 100,000 Galleons in your name to the 'Search for a Cure' Werewolf fund, and a personalized letter to be delivered immediately._

_To Andromeda Tonks: I leave vault number 1122 with the instructions for it to be filled to 1,000 Galleons every month from the Black Family vault, and a personalized letter to be delivered immediately._

_To Nymphadora Tonks: I leave vault number 1123 with the instructions for it to be filled to 1,000 Galleons every month from the Black Family vault, and a personalized letter to be delivered immediately._

_To Albus Dumbledore: I leave 50,000 Galleons with the instructions for this money to be used by the Order of the Phoenix, and a personalized letter to be delivered immediately._

_To Harry Potter: I name you my heir and the new head of the Black Family. Everything that the Black's once owned is now yours to do with, what you please. Excluding the aforementioned items._ _Also a personalized letter that is to be delivered immediately._

That is all that is written." Ragnok finished. "Here are the keys to your new vaults and letters." Ragnok said handing Nymphadora and Andromeda a key and letter each. "Here is your letter and receipt of the donation Mr. Lupin. Here is you're letter, sir. You will need to indicate which vault you wish to have the 50,000 delivered."

"Vault number 976, please." Dumbledore answered somberly.

"Mr. Potter, to become the official head of the Black Family, you will need to sign a few papers." Ragnok explained handing Harry said papers.

"Alright." Harry replied simply.

"Sign here." Ragnok said indicating the place where Harry was to sign. "Initial here. Sign there. Spit here. Sign this. Initial there. Sign and date there. Place a drop of blood here." Harry complied to everything, pricking his finger with a needle to get the blood. When he was done, the stack of papers glowed golden and then disappeared. "Here." Ragnok said unceremoniously shoving a box into Harry's hands. Then setting some papers on top of it. "The box contains everything the comes with the title of Head of the Black Family, including keys to various vaults and properties. The papers list everything owned by the Black Family worth note. You have the power to remove or add anyone from/to the Black Family also. This is the personalized letter mentioned in Sirius Orion Black's will. Take all the time you need to read and review everything. If you have any problems or questions, just ask. Otherwise, show yourselves out." With that said Ragnok left the room.

"Well, I'd have to say, that's probably the rudest Goblin I've ever met." Remus spoke up, breaking the tension in the room.

"You'd be rude too, if you had to deal with my Aunt for as long as he did." Andromeda spoke up.

"Shall we read the letters Sirius left us now, or would you rather read them in private?" Dumbledore asked.

"I've got no problem reading it here. I'm curious as to what Sirius had to say to me." Nymphadora spoke up.

"Yeah me too." Harry agreed. "Plus, I've got to sort this all out." he said indicating the box and papers.

"Do you need any help?" Andromeda asked. "I was, after all, part of the Black Family for the first seventeen years of my life. Then when I married Dan, Aunt Canicula zapped me off the tapestry just like she did Sirius."

"Thanks, but I think I can manage." Harry declined politely. Truth was, he could have used the help. He just didn't want her to help in the off chance that she went back to trying to set him up with her daughter. He'd just trust that everything was in order and read over everything some other time.

"No problem. You're just like Nymphadora, always wanting to do things for herself. You two would make a perfect couple."

"_Mum!"_ Tonks whined.

"Why don't we read our letters and give the goblin back his office?" Remus suggested, saving Harry.

Harry quickly turned to his letter. He was anxious to see what Sirius had to say, but he also didn't want to hear that conversation again.

_Harry Potter,_

_I bet your wondering why the betrayer of your parents, and supposed murderer of 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew is doing, putting you in his will. Well, I'd just like to say is that I didn't do all those things. True, I did betray your parents, but not in the way that everyone has probably told you. I was not your families Secret Keeper. At the last minute Pettigrew and I traded positions in hope of fooling Voldemort. I was to be the decoy, the one that everyone thought was the Secret Keeper, therefore drawing all attention to me and away from Pettigrew. What I failed to see, what we all failed to see, was that Pettigrew had been working for Voldemort since before we left Hogwarts. That was the way I betrayed your family. By not seeing this in the beginning. I mistakenly believed that one of my best friends, Remus Lupin, was the traitor, and failed to see what was obviously in front of my face._

_As to the murder of 12 Muggles and Peter Pettigrew, I've never killed anyone in my life. I always brought my suspects in alive. What truly happened that night is as follows: I figured, too late, that Pettigrew was the traitor and hunted him down. I found him hours later, going into the Muggle Bed and Breakfast he had been staying at. I cornered him and began to beat the shit out of him. This unfortunately, drew a crowd of Muggles. I was about to bind him and take him to the authorities, when he began shouting nonsense of how I had betrayed Lily and James. I began laughing uncontrollably at his audacity, and failed to notice him pulling out a second wand and launching a spell that blew up the entire street, killing most of the Muggles that had gathered around. Then the little bastard cut his finger off and transformed into his illegal Animagus form, a rat. I just continued laughing like a moron, and when the authorities came all the Muggles testified that I had done everything. I was hauled off to jail, never to be give a trial. I'm writing this, as well as several other letters, inside a Ministry holding cell awaiting my transfer to Azkaban. _

_I know you probably won't believe a word I have said, if you even read any of it, but I want you to know that everything I have said is true. I loved your parents, as much as I love you. Your father helped me out of so many rough situations that I will never be able to repay him. That is why I am not resisting being thrown in Azkaban; I deserve it for failing you and your father._

_I'm writing this letter to warn you. I know that you defeated Voldemort when you were a baby, but I don't believe he is dead. I was at your house when all was said and done, and something just didn't feel right. Something felt evil. If you ever see a white rat with a toe missing, don't hesitate to stomp on its head. It's probably the little bastard Pettigrew, trying to spy on you for his master. _

_When Voldemort does indeed come back, I only hope that it is at a time when you are at your strongest. If you're anything like your parents I know that you will be able to take care of yourself. When he does come back, I want you to do everything within your power to kill that bastard once and for all. For some reason he wanted you dead when you were a baby, there's no question that he'll want you dead when you're fully grown. You stopped him once, you'll be able to do it again. I don't want you, you children, or your grandchildren, whichever the case may be, to grow up in a world like I did. Voldemort tore my family, my life apart and I don't want the same to happen to you. Take care of yourself._

_Sirius Black_

_a.k.a._

_Padfoot (ask Remus if he's still around)_

Harry was saddened to say the least. Sirius had thought of him even when he was sitting in a cell waiting to be transferred to Azkaban. Harry felt tears welling up in his eyes and forced them away. He had promised himself that he would stop crying over Sirius, and he was going to. Sirius wanted Harry to kill Voldemort and Wormtail, by God he was going to.

Harry folded the letter back up and put it with his other documents. Looking around, Harry saw that everyone had content smiles on there faces and were waiting for him to finish reading. "What are you all smiling at?" Harry asked, with more than a hint of annoyance.

"Just things that Sirius wrote. Inside jokes and the such. Even facing an agonizing existence in Azkaban, he was still thinking of other people." Remus said.

"Oh." was Harry's reply.

"If you don't mind my asking, what did Sirius write in your letter that got you so upset?" Remus asked politely. "It's not like him to intentionally upset someone he cares for."

"Nothing really. He just wanted me to kill Voldemort and Wormtail at any cost." Harry said nonchalantly. Everyone in the room was shocked to say the least. Dumbledore looked as though he were about to say something, but Harry cut him off. "When do we have to be at the Ministry?"

"We have another hour before our meeting at the Ministry. Would anyone care to join Harry and I for some lunch at the Leaky Cauldron?" Dumbledore asked.

"Nymphadora and I would love to. We can talk more about her relationship with Harry here." Andromeda supplied.

"I–er–I can't I have to get to work." Nymphadora stuttered.

"Nonsense, you told me you had all day off." was Andromeda's reply.

"It's for—er—Dumbledore, that's right. I have work to do for Dumbledore."

"I don't recall needing you for anything today Nymphadora. By all means come and have lunch with us." Dumbledore said kindly. "How about you Remus? I'm paying."

"Well, I never could pass up a free meal. Besides, the entertainment would be to much to miss." Remus joked, nudging Harry with his elbow.

Knowing that there was no way for him to get out of this lunch, Harry walked quietly towards the Leaky Cauldron.

Nymphadora walked beside him, voicing her sincere apologies for what her mother was putting him through. "It's alright, _Nymphadora_. Besides, its kinda funny watching you squirm." Harry joked. He received a punch on the shoulder as Tonks stormed by him in a huff.

Somehow, at the Leaky Cauldron, Andromeda had managed to get Harry and Nymphadora sitting next to each other. In an attempt at revenge on Harry for his usage of her first name and the remark about his finding her predicament funny, Nymphadora agreed wholly to her mother's attempts to set them up on a date. Nymphadora relaxed as her mother's manipulations were turned fully onto Harry.

Harry, true to his part as a bashful teenager, began to blush a brilliant red and tried several unsuccessful times to change the subject. Upon seeing the evil grin on Nymphadora's face at Harry's predicament, Harry turned the tables on her, by also agreeing with Andromeda's attempts. Harry couldn't help but laugh as Nymphadora sputtered incoherently at his agreement and immediately went back on the defensive as to why she couldn't date Harry.

What seemed like an eternity later, lunch ended and Dumbledore and Harry flooed to the Ministrybut not before Nymphadora swore revenge on him. Being with Dumbledore, Harry was able to bypass all security checks and went directly to the Improper Use of Magic office where Mafalda Hopkirk removed the Ministry tracking spell from his wand.

_(End flashback)_

* * *

Harry was snapped out of his musings as the Goblin returnedwith Harry's new checkbook. "Here you go Mr. Potter everything seems to be in order. This checkbook contains an unlimited amount of checks. It is impossible to write on it without this special quill.If you lose the checkbook at anytime, you must alert us immediately so we can lock the account. We are not held responsible for any financial loses should you misplace this. Fraud is not taken lightly and punishable under Goblin Law, not Ministry.Will there be anything else?"

"No, that's all. Thank you." Harry said donning his hood and leaving the Goblin's office. It was time for some shopping.

**A/N:** Well that's it for Chapter 2. What do you think? Write a review and tell me about it. Something feels off about this chapter so please, if you see something not right, tell me.

In case you're wondering, I'm not sure if this is going to be a Harry/Tonks fic. I'll tell you this much, it will definitely not be a Harry/Mainstream ship. I can't stand Ginny and Hermione irks me a little too. How'd you like my characterization of both Tonks and her mother. I've read a couple fics where Tonks is really outgoing, popular and all that jazz. I kind of figured that he quirky attitude was just a front, not letting anyone truly know who she is so she won't get hurt. Andromeda, she was a pure-blood for seventeen years of her life. You don't just forget the things you learned were right and wrong in a day. If you're wondering I got the Occlumency stuff sort of from my imagination and sort of from the book/movie Dreamcatcher. It's awesome in both forms so go check it out. Any questions feel free to ask me in a review or just E-Mail me. I check my E-Mail at least 3 times a day so I'll get it and answer right away.


	3. Shopping

**Harry Potter and the Ultimate Betrayal**

**Chapter 3**

**Shopping**

The first stop on Harry's list was Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. He definitely needed some knew robes. As of now, all he had for clothing were his Hogwarts robes, and Dudley's hand-me-downs. There was no way that he could wear Muggle clothing, it would piss all of the Death Eaters off, not to mention Voldemort. The first things he had done when he woke his first morning there was to burn all of his Muggle clothing.

His first week at 'Voldemort's Lair,' as he had taken to calling it, was spent learning how to Apparate. Voldemort had taught him that in his dreams, like he did Occlumency. It had taken a full week, because he never got to spend more than an hour learning when he was woken up. Voldemort had only taught him the basics of Apparating; saying that Harry was not prepared to master it as he had.

The Apparating lessons were the last of Voldemort's lessons for Harry. The only reason he taught Harry how to apparate was so he would be free to move about on his own. Voldemort had read the Daily Prophet and knew that Harry was not going to betray him. What would he do? The supposed killer of Dumbledore, the greatest wizard to live, would get about five steps before Ministry officials would capture him and sentence him to death. Also by letting Harry have the freedom to come and go as he pleased, Voldemort insured that Harry would not come to hate him, eventually turning on him, the way he had Dumbledore. Or so he thought.

What Voldemort did do, was something that Harry had always hated to do. He assigned him to read several books. And by several, he meant seven. Seven very thick books. All on the theory of magic. Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Ancient Runes, and a three volume set on the Known History of Magic itself. Needless to say Harry had a ton of reading to do.

Harry walked into Madame Malkin's store and slowly lowered his hood. "I'll be with you in a moment, sir." Madame Malkin said as she saw Harry enter. Harry silently thanked Narcissa for his disguise. After some threats and promises, Narcissa had agreed to help him with his disguise. He had 'borrowed' a plain black cloak from Marcus Flint, it wouldn't have done much good if he walked around Diagon Alley in Hogwart's robes. Narcissa had charmed some make-up to cover his one discernable feature, his lightening bolt scar. She had also charmed his skin to appear darker than usual. He had let his facial hair go for the past three days and was now sporting a halfway decent beard. The truth was, he had no clue on how to shave it. No one ever taught him how to do it, Muggle or Magical. Narcissa also preformed a charm on his eyes to change the color from the noticeable emerald green, to an unobtrusive hazel. The only down side of this charm is that it only lasted for approximately three hours. Harry looked down at the watch that Hermione had given to him. The charm was set to wear off two and a half hours so Harry was in no real hurry.

Harry stroked the watch with his thumb as he put it back in his pocket. This watch had yet to leave his person since he had received it from Hermione. It served as a constant reminder of everything he had given up, everything he was fighting for. His friends. He knew that he most likely wouldn't survive through the final confrontation with Voldemort. Even if he did, he could never face his friends again. After everything he had done, everything he was about to do, how could he ever face them? It was funny really, he was doing all of this for his friends and they would wind up hating him for it.

"How can I help you, sir?" came a voice from his side. Harry turned and was met by a vaguely familiar face. Harry knew he knew her from somewhere, but just couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, I'm trying to readjust myself to Wizarding life and will need a full wardrobe." Harry lied quickly, without faltering.

"Readjusting to Wizarding life? Why would you want to do that in times like these?" The girl asked, and that was what helped Harry to identify her. Mauve Brown, Lavender Brown's older sister. Mauve had been a Seventh year Hufflepuff when Harry was in his Third year. The only reason why he remember her, was that she was always butting into other people's business. He vaguely remembered Lavender saying something about her sister working at Madame Malkin's during fourth year, but was to busy fighting to stay alive to pay much attention to the silly girl. Harry was going to have to tread lightly around her.

"Not that it's any of your business, but after the first war I left the wizarding world hoping to never return. About a month ago I heard about Voldemort's rebirth and have decided to return to do my part against him. He killed my entire family the first time, I'll not let anything like that happen again." Harry said, expanding on his lie.

The girl flinched violently at the mention of Voldemort's name, but shrugged it off like nothing happened. "So what can I do for you today, Mr..."

"Black. Ophiuchus Black. Like I said before, I need an entirely new wardrobe. I destroyed my last one." Harry gave the name that he placed on his checks. He had considered putting Hugh Jass, but thought twice. If someone payed attention to it, or if a younger person, like Mauve, were to see it they would know right away that it was a joke and questions would be asked. Questions were bad.

Ophiuchus was a name that Harry had gotten from Astronomy class. It was a constellation called the Serpent Wrestler that represented the God of Healing Asclepius. According to myth, Asclepius had gained the power to restore life to the dead from a herb which a serpent used to restore to life another that Asclepius had killed with his heel or staff. Asclepius then began restoring so many people back to life that the Realm of the Dead was becoming underpopulated. Hades complained to Zeus about this and Zeus in turn killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Apollo was pissed that his son was killed and so killed the three Cyclops that made Zeus's thunderbolts. So to appease Apollo, Zeus restored Asclepius to life and set him in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus.

Harry felt that this applied to him and Voldemort greatly. Harry was Asclepius, killing the serpent, Voldemort. Another serpent, Wormtail, restored Voldemort to life. Harry was going to kill Voldemort restoring the peaceful life to the world.

"Anything particular you want, Mr. Black?" Mauve asked him.

"No, just get me about ten normal robes, all dark colors; five cloaks, dark; two pairs of boots; and anything else you think I may need, all dark. I also need a cloak with lots of pockets ranging from small to large." Harry replied.

"Not much for fashion are you? You do know that dark colors are out this season? You look a lot better in a light blue, maybe a sapphire." Mauve said indicating the robes she was talking about.

"I don't really care about what's 'in' or 'out' this season. Just get me the stuff I asked for, or kindly get someone who will. I don't have time for this."

"Alright, alright. Geeze, don't get all in a huff. Would you like your unfashionable clothing tailored to fit you, or do you want just any old robe?" Mauve said, dripping with sarcasm.

"Tailored." Harry replied simply.

"Alright, step up here and I'll get you measured." Harry did as instructed and after a few minutes he was completely measured. "I have to go speak with Madame Malkin." Mauve said, to which Harry merely waved her on.

Mauve left without another word, supposedly to speak with Madame Malkin. She returned a few minutes later with Madame Malkin in-tow. "Hello Mister Black, I'm Madame Malkin. The reason for my speaking with you is that your order is quite a large one. When a customer wishes to place an order over a hundred galleons, I generally handle them myself."

"That's fine, I just want to get my clothes and leave." Harry said impatiently.

"I'm afraid it isn't as easy as that. This is a custom order and will take at least three hours to complete."

"How much will it cost?" Harry asked, his impatience growing.

Madame Malkin did some quick figuring on a pad of paper before she gave him his price, "138 Galleons 14 Sickles and 4 Knuts."

Harry took out his check book and began filling it out. He placed the cost at 180 Galleons even and handed the check to Madame Malkin. "Have it finished in two hours, or I'll cancel the check and the order." Harry threatened emptily. He had no idea if he could cancel a single check.

"Yes, sir. I'll have it finished in two hours. I'll have my best girls working on it."

"See that you do." Harry said turning and walking away without looking back. Had he looked back he would have seen the immense look of joy that had overcome Madame Malkin's face. She had upped the real price from 97 Galleons 14 Sickles and 4 Knuts to the price she gave the stranger, figuring he was worth it. Then he and upped the price even more. She was making close to a 90 Galleon profit. She would have gladly sucked the stranger off for that price. Hell she would have done that for free if he just asked. This day was definitely turning out for the best.

The next stop on Harry's list was the trunk store. His school trunk was becoming quite crowded and with his new clothes, there would be almost no room. Plus he was hoping to get a trunk with a shrinking charm on it so, if push come to shove and he cut tail and haul ass out of Voldemort's Lair, he wanted to be able to take his stuff with him and not be burdened by them.

Upon entering the store, the clerk who was sitting behind a desk idly tapping his fingers, jumped to attention. "How can I help you, sir? As you can see we have a wide variety of..."

"Save it." Harry cut him off. "I need a new trunk, hence I have entered a store that sells trunks. I need one with a lot more space than normal, and preferably a shrinking charm that I can activate easily."

"Well, sir," the man started seeming a little put off by Harry's attitude, "I have several trunks with about three times as much space as a normal trunk. None of them have shrinking charms placed on them, but that can be dealt with for the correct price. Then we have the multi-compartment trunks. They have anywhere from three to seven compartments. All of the multi-compartment trunks have shrinking and feather light charms placed on them. The trunks with five compartments have two normal sized compartments, the rest range from three-five times normal. Trunks with seven compartments contain a compartment where two people could sleep comfortably. Lots of Wizards use these when they are traveling in the wilderness so they don't have to sleep in the cold. During the first war, Aurors used this as a means of transporting suspects. Of course you cannot shrink the trunk while a living thing is in it. Inanimate objects can survive the re-enlarging, but living things tend to enlarge on the outside only, leaving the entrails the minimal size. The Department of Mysteries lost quite a few people testing this." The man explained. "So what will it be?"

"I'll take the seven compartment trunk."

"What color do you want?" that man asked.

"Whatever color you can get the fastest." was Harry's response. The man left quickly to get Harry's new trunk.

"Blue it is." the man said as he came back with a small blue trunk in his hand. "Now let me explain the features of this trunk. It of course has all the normal charms and enhancements. It's fire proof, water proof, stain resistant, when its shut it is sealed vacuum tight so nothing can be contaminated. The seventh compartment has a fresh air charm on the inside so you don't need to worry about suffocating. The shrinking charm is activated by this button." the man explained indicating the side of the trunk and then depressing the small button. He dropped the small, fist-sized trunk. On its way down to the ground the trunk grew in size, hitting the floor with a thud. "The inside of all compartments are charmed so nothing moves. You could throw this sucker off a mountain and it would never get a ding on it, nor would anything on the inside shift position. When the trunk is in its normal size, the shrinking charm button is transported to the upper-right corner on the top of the trunk. This is so it isn't accidently bumped by anyone/thing. Also, instead of having seven different keys and seven different locks to open the seven different compartments; there is one key and one lock." The man said showing Harry a large skeleton key. "To open the other trunks you merely twist the head of the key to the number of the compartment you want." The man then showed Harry seven very small numbers on the body of the key. He switched it from number one to number two, and the key magically changed. "That's about all there is. You'll find a manul in the first compartment that tells you how to do everything. It should also answer any questions you may have."

"Great. Now how much do I owe you?"

"Well the total comes to about 343 Galleons, 8 Sickles, and 11 Knuts."

Harry quickly filled out his check for 343 Galleons, 8 Sickles, and 12 Knuts. He had decided that he didn't like this guy, and so gave him a 1 Knut tip. After handing the guy the check, Harry quickly shrunk his trunk, put it in his pocket, and exited the shop.

Upon leaving the shop, Harry once again checked his watch. He still had an hour and a half left to kill. He walked down Diagon Alley looking for a place to spend money in. Flourish and Blotts was out. Voldemort's Lair had a collection of books that equaled Hogwarts. While Hogwarts was more towards the light side of magic and the Defense of Dark Magic. The Lair's collection was centered on the more obscure arts of magic, including, but not limited to, the largest collection of Dark Magic in the world, handed down from Salazar Slytherin.

The Apothecary was out too. Any potions Harry needed he would just have Snape make them for him. Therefore, there was no need for any cauldrons or any such stuff. Harry wouldn't be playing Quidditch anytime soon, so no Quality Quidditch Supplies. There was no way that Harry would risk a visit to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. There was too great of a chance of them recognizing him. There was nothing that Harry needed that Diagon Alley could provide, so Harry took a turn down Knockturn Alley.

Knockturn Alley was just as Harry remembered it, except there were a lot more people. Now that Voldemort had risen people with bad intentions were coming out in flocks. They were trying to make a Galleon in a time of crisis, taking advantage of peoples fear.

As Harry looked around he began to notice a theme. While Diagon Alley had stores the sold general stuff; luggage, clothes, books, etc... Knockturn Alley was more specific oriented. There were stores that sold pre-made potions, or a certain type of book for example. The stores also sold the stuff that you couldn't find in Diagon Alley. Extremely rare items: Pensives, Invisibility Cloaks, and rare potions ingredients. Also, if you dropped the right name to the right people, you could get anything you wanted no matter how illegal.

One store in particular caught Harry's eye. _Dragon's Hide_, was the name of the store and for the life of him, Harry could not figure out what this store sold. Upon entering, there was a loud ringing that alerted the clerk to the presence of a customer. Then Harry's senses were overwhelmed by the smell of leather.

Looking around the store Harry was amazed by the colors. There were dragon hides of all twelve major colors. The primary colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue. The secondary colors: Orange, Green, and Violet; and then the six tertiary colors: Red-Orange, Red-Violet, Yellow-Green, Yellow-Orange, Blue-Green, and Blue-Violet. There were dragon hide pants, coats, vests, boats, gloves, hats; everything you could imagine and some things you couldn't. On one shelf there was actually dragon hide clothing made for animals. Harry had seen people dress dogs and cats up in human clothing, but dressing a Hippogriff up in dragon hide? Come on.

Harry stopped his perusal of the shelves and walked up to the clerk who was currently reading a book. Harry stood there for a second waiting for the wizard to acknowledge him, but to Harry's irritation the clerk did no such thing. So Harry tried the subtle way of clearing his throat loudly in his best impression of Umbridge.

"Hem, Hem!" The clerk looked up grunted then went back to his reading.

Just as Harry was about to pull his wand and give the clerk a little pain to think about, a voice spoke up from the storeroom. "Klaus is someone there?" Klaus, as that was apparently his name, grunted in reply. A head poked out of the storeroom. "Oh. Hello. I'll be with you in a moment." The head disappeared for a while, before the man emerged bodily from the storeroom. "I'm sorry about Klaus here. He's not much of a people person. Been working for me for seven years and I've never heard him say one coherent world. Don't know if he can't, won't, or just doesn't know how? Never really cared to find out either, if I'm honest." The man said with a laugh. "He's a hell of a worker and that's all that counts. Adds up on the numbers in his head within seconds and is always spot on. And if a customer tries to cheat me, or say that I cheated them—well, Klaus throws them from them bodily from the store. He can take quite a punch too. I saw him take four stunners from three powerful wizards and not blink an eye. I think he may be part troll, though I can't imagine what human would ever have relations with a troll. He just showed up one day with a little note card that said 'Job' on it, sat down behind that desk, pulled out a book, and began to read. But, I'm sure you didn't come here to listen to me rant on about my worker. What can I do for you Mr..."

"Black. Ophiuchus Black." Harry answered the strange man.

"Marten Miggs. Everyone just calls me Marty." The man said holding out his hand and a big smile on his face.

Harry took the hand readily; forgetting all pretenses that he was supposed to be an insufferable asshole. There was something about this guy that reminded him deeply of Professor Flitwick and it was impossible to be an asshole to Professor Flitwick. Even Draco Malfoy was kind to Professor Flitwick. Harry would thing that Marty Miggs was Flitwick's twin brother if not for the fact that Marty was taller than even he was and Harry was a healthy 1.7meters tall.

"We're well met, Mr. Black." Marty said shaking Harry's hand a couple times, his face beaming.

"Call me Ophiuchus."

"Very well, Ophiuchus. What can I do for you today?"

"I'd like to purchase some dragon hide clothing."

"Of course you do! What type of dragon hide clothing do you want? Formal robes, causal robes, protective robes? Do you want gloves, boots, hats? Anything you want, I can do." Marty answered enthusiastically.

"Well, I know that I want some protective robes. That's what I came here for, some battle wear. But, depending on how smooth a talker you are, I can be talked into something else also."

"My favorite type of customer. First let's get what you came here for. Protective robes are back here." Marty said. "Most people think that curses and hexes will just bounce off of the robes leaving the wearer unharmed. That couldn't be further from the truth. Dragon hide absorbs the hex at best. It is the magic within the dragon that allows them to be so impenetrable. If some of that magic didn't remain in the hide upon removal, these robes would work only slightly better than normal cow leather. Now if you were to be wearing one of these, and I were to cast, say a stunning curse, the dragon hide would absorb most of the blow, but you would still be left light-headed. If someone of Albus Dumbledore's power, God rest his soul, were to cast the stunning curse on you, you would probably be rendered unconscious, that is to say unless you were on par with Dumbledore's power, or just slightly less powerful." Marty explained.

"Now another misconception that everyone has about dragon hides, is that they are all the same, just different colors. However, each dragon hide has its own characteristics. The Ukranian Ironbelly is probably the most resistant to curses, but this makes for a very stiff and nearly inflexible material. It's just more for boots than anything else. The Aurors of this country like to use the Chinese Fireball for protection as it is the least expensive material that still protects from minor curses and such. If I were to recommend a specific type of hide, it would have to be the Swedish Short-Snout. It is surpassed in protection only by the Ukranian Ironbelly. It is slightly more expensive than the Chinese Fireball at 450 Galleons per square foot, but the higher amount of protection it offers is worth the price in my opinion. Those are the only three that I would recommend, though I can make it out of anything you want." Finished Marty.

"I'll take the Swedish Short-Snout then." Was Harry's simple answer.

"Excellent. Now I recommend having a vest, as it allows free motion of the arms. The only real danger to the arms are cutting curses. If you were to take a stunner to the arm, it would be like taking a stunner while wearing Chinese Fireball hide to the body. Cutting curses are easily recognizable and easily dodged or blocked."

"A vest it is." Answered Harry.

"Wonderful! Here you go." Marty said pulling a very small, silvery-blue vest off of the shelf. "Don't worry about the size it's one size fits all. The more you wear it, the more flexible and form fitting it is. Well? What are you waiting for? Try it on. No, no it goes under your clothing, that's what the cushioning charm on the inside is for. Don't be shy. We're both grown men."

Harry took off his robe and undershirt and struggled into the vest. Struggle was an understatement. It took him three tries before he finally got it on with Marty's help. "It's a little tight." Harry gasped out, nearly suffocating from the tight vest. "Are you sure—that it is—one size—fits all?" Harry managed to gasp out between breaths.

"Yes. When you wear it more it will stretch. Now, I take it you will be wanting to wear that out of the store? Good. Next are the pants. Not very many people like to wear dragon hide pants, and I agree with them. They are as tight as the vests, and don't allow very much maneuverability. So?" Marty informed.

"I need to be able to move. My speed is the best thing going for me; so, I guess I won't be buying any of the pants. Anything else?"

"The only other clothing for protection are the cloaks. Now these need to be made to fit, none of that one size fits all stuff. I have them tailored without sleeves so you will have good maneuverability. Also, for an extra 100 Galleons I can fit it with the Calaquendi Rune for protection. It adds to the level of protection, making it that even a wizard with a 'normal' power level could withstand one stunner from someone of the power of the late Dumbledore."

"I'll take one of those." stated Harry immediately. "Rune and everything."

"Okay that will take about an hour and a half to make. The Rune is a very delicate process, and needs to be done correctly." Marty explained.

Harry pulled out his watch, flipped it open, checked the time, snapped it shut, and put it away all in very rapid succession. He had a little over an hour left, plus the stop for Lucius and he still had to pick up his clothing. He was going to be cutting everything close. "That's going to be a problem. I have a very important meeting to be at in 45 minutes and won't be able to return for the rest of the day."

"No problem, you can come pick it up at your earliest convenience."

"I'm not exactly sure when that is going to be, and I'm sure I'll need the items before then. Tell you what you get this done in 45 minutes, properly done mind you, I'll take half of the total price and make that your tip." Harry enticed.

Marty's eyes widened at that prospect. He had been doing the math in his head and had come to about 5,120 Galleons, and he was horrible at math. It was probably more than that. With that kind of tip he'd be able to take his wife on that vacation he'd been promising her for the past five years. Getting it done in time would be no problem. The hour and a half was just a safety measure to make sure that he did it all properly and had room to start over on the Rune a couple times if need be. But, he couldn't take advantage of this young man. He probably had no idea how much gold this was going to cost him.

Harry seeing the indecision on Marty's face did some quick talking. "Don't worry about taking advantage of me. I have more money than I know what to do with. Do yourself a favor and take the tip. I know it's going to be large. You can buy your family something special. Take them on vacation for a while to get away from this war."

"Alright you got yourself a deal." Marty agreed and shook Harry's hand. "Come into the backroom for a second so I can get you measured then feel free to browse around until its finished."

Harry walked into the backroom with Marty. Upon a quick inspection, Harry saw that it looked exactly as he had expected it to. Completely covered with all different types of dragon hide in all different shapes and sizes. "Ignore the mess. This should only take a second." Marty said noticing Harry's inspection. Now if you remove your cloak, I can take your measures properly." explained Marty. Harry quickly complied. After about a minute Harry was completely measured and was being ushered out of the backroom. "Out. I need complete silence to do this correctly. Tell Klaus to close up the front door. You'll be my last customer today."

"Alright, thank you again." Harry said politely.

"Thank me when its done." Marty said closing the door.

Harry turned around and was about to tell Klaus what Marty had wanted him to do, but it appeared that Klaus was already in the process of locking up. When he was finished. He sat back down behind the front desk and began reading.

Not know what else to do Harry decided to try and engage Klaus in a conversation, knowing full well that it was pointless. "So whatcha reading?" Harry asked as conversationally as he could manage.

Klaus, as Harry expected looked up from his book and grunted, before turning back to it. Then to Harry's shock, Klaus tilted the book so Harry could read the title. "_Crime and Punishment _by Fyoder Dostoevsky. Sounds interesting." To which Klaus replied with a grunt and continued reading.

What felt like an eternity later, Marty returned with Harry's cloak. "Well here it is, a work of art. Got it right on the first try. Care to try it on and give it a test run?"

"No time for that, I trust you to have got it right. If you didn't, I'll be paying you a visit." Harry replied jokingly. "Besides, you're thirty seconds late." said Harry after checking his watch.

"I wouldn't have felt right taking such a large tip from a nice, young man such as yourself." said Marty with a great sigh of disappointment.

"Marty, I'm kidding. Well, you are thirty seconds late, but I'll still be giving you the tip I promised. Truthfully, I didn't think you would get it done this fast."

Marty's face brightened considerably, but he still felt the need to go through the pleasantries. "No, no. I said I would get it done is 45 minutes, and I didn't get done within the time frame, no tip necessary."

"If your really don't want it..." Harry left the sentenced unfinished.

"Alright, you've twisted my arm. I'll take the tip. If you insist."

"I don't insist, but you'll take the tip anyway." was Harry's reply. "So what do I owe you?"

"Well that's one dragon hide vest made out of Swedish Short-Snout, and one personalized cloak, made out of the same material, with a protective rune, with these measurements." Marty said to Klaus handing him a slip of paper with Harry's measurements on it. The second Klaus had the slip in his hands he flipped it over and began writing on the back with a quill. He handed it to Marty, who read what was written. "16,200 Galleons. I assume that's with the tip added in?" Marty asked of Klaus who merely grunted in affirmation.

Harry pulled out his checkbook and began filling out a check for his order. Signing 'Ophiuchus Black' with a flourish of his quill, Harry ripped off the check and handed it to Marten Miggs. Taking out his trunk and setting the cloak within the first compartment, Harry made to leave, but was called back my Marty.

"Mr. Black, I'd like you to have this." Marty said pulling down the single hat that rested upon a shelf behind the front desk.

"Thank you, but I can't accept that." Harry said politely hoping not to offend.

"Don't worry about it. This hat has been sitting on that shelf for seven years now and nobody even looks twice at it. I made it after coming back from a vacation in America. The wife and I saw a muggle movie called _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. _I'll spare you the details and just say that I fell in love with the movie and made two hats out of dragon hide. One for myself and one to sell. I wear mine all the time to my wife's constant consternation, and I thought that this would sell like a hot cake, and people would be putting orders by the broom load. Let's just say that never happened. Now I'd like you to have it. Don't worry, your tip more than makes up for the price of this. And who knows, you may start that trend that I was trying to start."

"Umm, thanks, I guess." Harry replied politely. He then put the hat uncomfortably on his head, trying not to offend Marty. "I'll see you some other time." Harry said leaving as quickly as he could.

"It was nice meeting you Mr. Black. I'll be looking forward to your business in the future." Marty called after him.

_Wow. What a weird man. _Was Harry's first thoughts upon exiting the store. Followed quickly by, _Shit! _As he looked at his watched and noticed that he only had nine minutes left. His first thought was to pick up the package that Lucius wanted while he was still in Knockturn Alley, but immediately vetoed that idea. He had no idea how long that stop would take. If he was going to revert back to his original look; he'd rather do that in Knockturn Alley where people would less likely to call 5-O on him.

So Harry quickly went back into Diagon Alley with the intent on getting in and out of Madame Malkin's as quickly as possible. And that's just what he did. Upon walking into Madame Malkin's Harry ignored the shopkeepers question of where he got that silly hat from and told her to get his clothes rather nastily. When she returned with three bags full of clothing, instead of looking through it to make sure everything was there like Malkin suggested, Harry just opened his unshrunk his trunk, put the bags in compartment three, re-shrunk the trunk, and left the store as quickly as possible.

Harry made it back to Knockturn Alley, and his final destination, with three minutes left to spare. Harry entered the loathsome store that he had accidently stumbled upon back in his second year, Borgin and Burkes. Making sure nobody was in the shop besides the somewhat familiar face of Mr. Borgin, Harry turned back to the door and cast several locking charms on it.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Mr. Borgin asked, pulling out your wand. "I ought to curse you to hell and back, thinking you can rob my store."

"I've come to pick up a package for Lucius Malfoy." Harry said casually. At the mention of Malfoy's name, Borgin paled considerably and nearly dropped his wand.

"I know no such person. Now leave my store at once."

"Lucius said you say something like that." Harry said cooly.

"He did, did he. Well I have no idea who that is so leave this instant."

"Lucius also told me to tell you, if you didn't give him his package, he'd be sending an anonymous letter to the Ministry of Magic about '84." Any color that Mr. Borgin had retained at the mention of Lucius Malfoy fled his face.

"T-there's n-no need to d-do that. I-I'll get his p-package right away. J-just wait here. I-I'll go and g-  
get it for y-you." Mr. Borgin stuttered out before rushing into the backroom.

Instead of going to the hidden room that had up until recently held all of his unscrupulous business deals, Mr. Borgin went to his fireplace. Throwing in some floo powder, Mr. Borgin stuck his head into the green flame and called out, "Auror Headquarters; Nymphadora Tonks."

* * *

Nymphadora Tonks was sitting at her desk at the Auror Headquarters bored out of her mind. She had recently been put in charge of a three person team with orders of finding and capturing Lucius Malfoy and she had exhausted all of her leads.

After the failed attempt on his life, Fudge had ordered teams to go in search of all of the escaped convicts. Teams of five or more had been put on everyone except Lucius Malfoy. Orders to be captured dead or alive had been put on everyone except Lucius Malfoy. And it really pissed her off.

The only reason she had been put in charge of a three person team, which included herself and two rookies, was because Fudge didn't think she stood a chance in hell of catching Malfoy. Despite everything that Malfoy had done, Fudge still didn't think that he was guilty of anything. Malfoy had donated way to much money to everything around the wizarding world, including Fudge's personal bank account, to be guilty of anything. That's why Fudge put together this shit team.

The first rookie, Damon Moon, was a cocky son-of-a-bitch who thought he was better than everyone else. He was constantly undermining Tonks's authority, never doing a thing she said. He was a muggle-born who had seen way too many muggle cop shows. He was always cursing first and asking questions later. He also had absolutely no subtlety when asking questions.

The other one, George Polk, was the complete opposite. How he got to be an Auror, Tonks couldn't guess. He had absolutely no confidence in his abilities, of which he had none. Tonks could never count on this guy to back her up in a fight.

Then there was Tonks herself. She was too preoccupied with finding Harry before anyone else to lead a team. Plus, she could freely admit that she wasn't a good leader. That's why she had never wanted to be one, and that's why Fudge made her one. What Fudge didn't count on, was that Tonks would have Shacklebolt and Moody in her corner, two of the greatest leaders in Auror history. Shack was taking on a double load, helping her with Malfoy and also leading the team in search of Rabastan Lestrange. Moody was taking on a quadruple threat, helping her with Malfoy, leading the team in search of Bellatrix Lestrange, helping with the team in search of Rudolphus Lestrange, and leading the Order of the Phoenix.

Shack and Moody were the two who helped her bring in her one solid lead. So far that lead was leading to nowhere and getting there fast. Tonks and her team had raided a long time 'friend' of Malfoy, Sander Borgin of Borgin and Burkes. What they found was any Auror's dream, a plethora of illegal dark materials in a hidden room under the backroom.

Tonks hauled him into Auror Headquarters and was about to give him over to the Wizengamot when Shack intervened. He had explained to Tonks the whole concept of stringing the little fish out on a hook to reel in the big fish. So instead of handing Borgin over to the Wizengamot, at which he would have gotten a maximum of 5 years in Azkaban, she made a deal with him. Borgin had conveniently told Tonks that he was holding a package for Lucius Malfoy that he would certainly be picking up in the near future.

So Tonks confiscated everything Borgin had in that hidden room and told him to firecall her the second that Lucius Malfoy entered the store. That had been nearly a week ago and Tonks had given up hope that Borgin would ever call. That's why she was slightly shocked when the amplified voice called her name.

"NYMPHADORA TONKS YOU HAVE A FIRECALL AT GRATE 5!" Thinking it was from her mother, Tonks took her sweet time walking to answer the call. She was taken completely by surprise when she saw that the head in the fire was not her mother, but Zander Borgin.

"What do you need Mr. Borgin?" Tonks asked none-to politely.

"You told me to firecall you if Lucius ever stopped to pick up that package." was Borgin's reply.

"And?"

"Well it's not Lucius, but it's someone who has been in contact with him recently. He mentioned something that only Lucius could possibly know about." Borgin said nervously.

"Stall as long as you can. We'll be there in less than five minutes."

"But..." Borgin started, but stopped because Tonks was already gone.

"MOON, POLK, TO ME RIGHT NOW!" Tonks shouted over the din of the Auror Headquarters. Polk was there seconds after she finished shouting. Moon took his sweet old time getting there. When he finally did get there, Tonks started barking off orders. "Alright listen up! Borgin just called he says someone who can lead us to Malfoy just showed up in his store asking for the package. I want you to apparate to _Diagon _Alley, and then walk to Borgin and Burkes. I want anti-apparition wards put up immediately. Then you _will_ follow my lead. _Don't _do anything unless I do it first. Do you hear me MOON?"

"Yes, Sir." Moon said lazily.

"What did I say Moon?"

"Don't do anything unless."

"Unless what?" Tonks said getting angry at Moon's lack of respect.

"Unless you do it first."

"Alright move out!" Tonks said before apparating away, quickly followed by the two rookies.

* * *

Harry was getting extremely impatient and a little worried. Borgin had been gone for three minutes now and he could feel the charms wearing off. Pulling down his hat to cover up his scar, Harry just prayed that Borgin wasn't smart enough to recognize the change.

Finally, after Harry felt the final change, Borgin reappeared looking more than nervous and empty handed. "Where did the other guy go to?" Borgin asked confusion setting in on his face.

"I'm the same man. Now, where is the package?" Harry asked menacingly.

"B-but, the other guy was much darker. A-and he didn't have green eyes. What's going on here?"

"I was in disguise. Either hand over the package, or you'll be in pain you've never imagined before." Harry growled, pulling out his wand and pointing it between Borgin's eyes.

"I-I-I, j-just h-h-hold, w-wait just a s-second. I-I'll g-get..." In the middle of Borgin's stuttering, Harry felt something about his environment change. It felt as though everything had closed in on him just a little bit. Borgin turned to go into the backroom to get the package, but Harry knew that something was going wrong.

"Don't move! Don't even breathe! What the hell did you do?" Harry yelled at the man.

Borgin started stuttering in response, when the door to the store was suddenly blown off its hinges. "Aurors! Freeze! You're under arrest!" Shouted a male voice behind him. "Come quietly, or we'll take you by force!" The voice seemed to be moving towards the right as it spoke until it stopped on the last couple of words.

"Drop the wand and turn around slowly." a feminine voice said with an irritated tone. Harry recognized that voice. He would always know to whom that voice belonged. Nymphadora Tonks.

"_Protego." _Harry whispered in an inaudible voice, swishing his wand in a barely perceptible pattern. Then turning swiftly towards his right Harry whispered "_Stupefy." _Pointing his wand to where he thought the male voice had stopped.

As he had figured would happen, both Nymph and the male voice cast identical red curses at him. What he didn't expect was a third person to be casting a spell from his left, now his right. Luckily, his shield was strong enough to take on all three stunners, reflecting them all back at their casters. The guy who was now on Harry's right was unable to produce a shield to block his reflected stunner and fell in a heap as it hit him in the head. The voice that had originally alerted Harry to his presence was able to get a shield up to absorb his reflected curse, but was unable to block the second that Harry sent at him and fell to the floor hitting his head off a shelf to render him further unconscious. Nymph was able to absorb her reflected stunning curse with a shield and leveled her wand at Harry as he did the same to her.

"Hello, Nymph." Harry said using the nickname that he had tortured her with in the month he stayed at Grimmauld Place before his 'desertion.' "Fancy seeing you here."

"H-Harry, is that you?" she asked, her eyes brimming with tears. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She would finally get the answers to her question: 'Why?'.

"The one and only." Harry said tilting his hat up to reveal his scar. "Nice anti-apparation ward you put up. I take it was you." commented Harry after testing the strength of the ward. He wasn't the best at apparating, but most people couldn't put an anti-apparation ward up to save their life. "I suggest you step out of my way. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

"Why? Why'd you do it Harry?" Nymphadora pleaded.

"Why'd I do what? Why'd I join Voldemort? I thought that much would be obvious. We were losing the war, Nymph. Dumbledore had put all of his faith on the shoulders of a sixteen year-old. A _sixteen year-old!_ Can you believe it. How on earth could a kid, someone who hadn't even graduated Hogwarts yet defeat a powerful wizard such as Voldemort. I thought about running away. Going to America or someplace far away, but then I'd just be running my entire life. Voldemort wouldn't have stopped hunting me until I was dead. Dumbledore wouldn't have stopped hunting me until Voldemort was dead. The choice I made was the only choice where I would continue to live." Harry lectured.

"That's the cowards way out and you know it!" Nymphadora screamed the tears overflowing now. Suddenly her eyes broke away from his and looked over his left shoulder. They widen suddenly before going back to normal and resting back on his. If Harry hadn't been watching so intently he would have missed it. "That's why I know you're going to lose. Cowards always lose!" Her eyes drifted over Harry's left again and Harry knew what was coming.

Diving forward and to his right, Harry twisted in mid air and fired a stunning curse at Zander Borgin who had overcome his fear of the strange man once he learned that he was _the _Harry Potter. Money can make people do strange things.

Borgin was knocked backwards into the backroom by the force of Harry's curse. The curse that Borgin had sent at Harry, missed by mere inches and hit Nymphadora right in the chest. Her dragon hide absorbed most of the blow, but she was left extremely light-headed and disoriented.

"_Accio Wand." _Harry said casually. Nymphadora tried to grab tighter on her wand, but being so disoriented she squeezed the wrong hand and her wand flew out of her hand easily. Harry deftly caught the wand, then getting to his feet went to help Nymph sit down on the ground before she fell painfully. "Sit tight." Harry said patronizingly.

Walking over to the unconscious form of Zander Borgin, Harry cast quick glances towards the other two Aurors to make sure they weren't stirring. Neither were. Getting down on his haunches, overtop of Borgin, Harry cast the 'Ennervate' spell on him. Borgin, slowly began to stir, too slowly. Harry, gripping his wand in his right hand, smacked Borgin hard across the face with his left. It worked.

"Now listen carefully and answer truthfully, your life depends on it. Where is the package for Malfoy?"

"I-I don't know. The A-Aurors, they raided my store. T-took everything. S-Said if I d-didn't cooperate, I-I'd be spending the rest of my days in A-Azkaban." Borgin managed to stutter out.

"Wrong answer." Harry said, raising his wand, causing Borgin to piss his pants.

"HARRY DON'T!" Tonks screamed from her place on the floor. "He's not worth it. Please don't lower yourself to their level!"

"Today's your lucky day, Borgin." Harry started.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Anything you ever need I'll do it! Thank you so much." Borgin groveled.

Harry having enough swung his fist into Borgin's face as hard as he could effectively knocking him unconscious. "Well, Nymph, it was nice talking to you, but I seem to have overstayed my welcome. Lucky for me your Anti-Apparation ward just wore off. See you some other time." Harry said tossing Nymphadora's wand through the air. Before it reached her, Harry disapparated out of the store.

Nymphadora grinned maliciously. Her Anti-Apparation ward had fallen, but her tracer spell was still up and running strong. Seconds after Harry disapparated an image appeared in her head. It was a park that was severely tarnished by graffiti and not a single swing remained on the swing set.

Awakening her fellow Aurors with simple 'Ennervate' spell she instructed them to report to the Headquarters and begin filling out a report. The subject, an unidentified white-male, had escaped. They followed orders swiftly enough, with just a few muttered curses from Moon about being beat by a single person. Once they were gone Nymphadora walked quickly over to Borgin and 'Obliviated' his mind of any reference to Harry Potter being in his store. She would deal with him herself.

* * *

Harry apparated into the familiar park in Little Whinging. He had been instructed by Voldemort itself that should he for any reason run into trouble of any kind, he was to apparate to five completely random places before Portkeying back to his '_Lair.' _This would assure that no one could have possibly followed him. The park was the first place that popped into Harry's mind as he thought of his escape.

The sudden reappearance of Nymphadora Tonks had really thrown him off guard. He had kept his cool outwardly, but inside he was like a duck underwater fighting furiously to stay afloat. They had become really good friends during Harry's stay at Grimmauld Place. Constantly teasing and flirting with each other. It had probably been the best summer that Harry had ever had. It had really lifted his spirits, having someone to joke around with again. The war had made everyone else too serious. Even Fred and George had laid off on their jokes.

While reliving happier days, Harry had unconsciously fixed one of the swings that Dudley and his gang had broken. He even threw in an unbreakable charm on it for good measure. He only wished he could see Dudley's fat face as he tried to break this swing. It would still be held together way after the rest of the swing set had been rusted into oblivion.

Harry was about to sit down upon the swing to think things over a bit when he felt a disturbance in his surroundings. It was weird he had never felt anything like this before, and yet he almost immediately recognized it for what it was. Someone was about to apparate to his location, not two meters from where he stood.

Closing the distance between him and where the person would apparate to Harry drew his wand and pointed it at where he knew the persons head would appear. Needless to say, Nymphadora Tonks was extremely shocked to find a wand pointed between her eyes as she apparated to Harry's location.

"Drop the wand Nymph." Harry said casually to which Nymphadora complied.

"Harry I just want to talk."

"No time, gotta run." Harry said quickly, preparing to disapparate.

"Oh. No. You. Don't!" Tonks said reaching up and grabbing a hold of Harry's wrist with both hands, twisting as she did so. Stepping into Harry with her right foot, Tonks pulled Harry's arm over her right shoulder. Then with a show of strength, she flipped Harry over her shoulder and onto his back. Twisting his wrist even harder, she quickly removed his wand from his hand. Pinning his arms to his side with her legs, Tonks sat, none-to-gently on his stomach and shoving his own wand under his chin.

"Look at that, my schedule suddenly opened up." joked Harry.

"Now, we're going to talk, and you're going to tell me the truth. Why did you do it?"

"I told you already, I..."

"Don't give me that _shit_!" Tonks shouted, punctuated her anger by shoving Harry's wand painfully under his chin. "I know you better than that! You'd never join _his _side just because you thought he was going to win. If you were the type to abandon people because they were going to lose, you would have abandoned the Weasley's a long time ago!"

"What do you want me to say? I've already..."

"The truth. All I want is the truth and then I'll let you walk away." Tonks said, tears flowing by now.

"You want the truth." Harry said quietly.

"Yes, that's all I want."

Harry pondered this for a minute. Could he tell her the truth? If he did it could put her in danger and it certainly would put himself in even more danger. Didn't people always say that four could keep a secret if three were dead? Would it come to that? Sighing resignedly Harry decided to tell her the truth.

"What I'm about to tell you, stays between you and me. No one else in this entire universe can know this. So far, besides myself only two people know about this, with you it will be three and it can't go any further." Harry said.

"I won't tell a soul." Tonks promised.

"Alright. I guess that's good enough." Harry said, pausing to think about how he wanted to start. "Do you remember the reading of Sirius's Will?" At her nod of acknowledgment Harry continued. "You remember how he gave everyone a letter? In mine he basically told of how he was innocent and how much he loved my Mum and Dad and me. He also said how he knew that Voldemort wasn't dead yet, and he wanted me to promise, that if Voldemort ever came back, that I would do anything within my power to make sure he stays gone the second time. So I did. Voldemort starting writing to me this summer and visiting me in my dreams. He taught me to become an Occlumens master in one night. So I thought to myself, who better to teach me how to kill Voldemort than Voldemort himself? So together with Dumbledore, I came up with a plan to join Voldemort's ranks, learn all I could from him, then kill him." Harry explained.

"B-but, you killed Dumbledore!"

"Did I? Did you look closely at his body? Yes, his body was dead, but he wasn't. Several hours after I 'killed' Dumbledore, the other person who knows about me stole his body and replaced it with a transfigured stick. Dumbledore is a true master at transfiguration you know."

"Then where's Dumbledore. We need a leader now! He can..." Tonks exclaimed.

"To keep up the charade, Dumbledore needs to stay dead. If he came back to the living, Voldemort would know that I lied to him, and that would be bad."

"So all the things that everyone is saying about you—none of its true—you're still..."

"I'm still me, just in a different location and hiding within a shell." explained Harry.

Tonks, her elation emanating from her face smother Harry's mouth with hers. It was Harry's second kiss and again it was really wet. _Why do girls always kiss me after they cry? _was all Harry could think before he was lost in the sensation. This was definitely different from his kiss with Cho.

When Tonks finally broke the kiss, it took Harry a minute before he got his senses back. "Umm, Nymph, not that I mind you sitting on me, but there's a rock digging into my back." Tonks, blushing furiously at her forwardness, extricated herself from Harry before helping him to his feet.

Now was the time for the moment of awkwardness that happens after every first kiss. Harry trying desperately to figure someway to break the silence blurted the first thing that came to his mind. "Remember, you can't tell..."

"Anyone. I know, I'm not twelve Harry, I know how to keep my mouth shut. So if Dumbledore isn't dead, where is he?" asked Tonks.

"You know the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher at Hogwarts?"

"Adwiraloth Deriwyn?" Tonks asked confused. "Yeah, my little cousin says he's—Oh my! That's Dumbledore?"

"Right in one. Who better to teach kids how to defend himself than Dumbledore?"

There was another silence before Tonks asked another question. "Who else knows?"

"Snape. He's my contact with Dumbledore."

"Oh. Harry. You haven't–haven't, killed anyone yet? Have you?" Tonks asked tentatively. At Harry's crestfallen face, she got her answer. "Who?"

"Rudolphus Lestrange. He was part of my initiation. He failed in his attempt to kill Fudge, so I had to punish him. I got carried away with the Cruciatus and fried his brain. Just like he did to the Longbottoms. Voldemort made me finish him off then, so I did." Harry said simply.

Tonks was shocked to say the least at how easily Harry was taking this. "Harry, I know he was the scum of the earth, but he was still a human being. You shouldn't..."

"I know. But, what you have to realize, there's going to be a lot more death before this is over. If I let every single one eat away at me, I'll go insane. I have to learn to take everything in stride. These people are animals. If you show any sign of weakness they pounce on it." Harry said, staring intently at his shoes.

Tonks put her hand under his chin and raised his eyes to hers. Before she could say something, Harry interrupted. "Listen, I've got to get going. I was expected back about an hour ago. Find out when the next Hogsmeade weekend is at Hogwarts and then go and talk to Dumbledore. You should be able to get him alone then. He'll know what to do about this." And without her realizing it, Harry took back his wand and disapparated, following the original plan should he run into trouble.

Tonks lingered for a couple of minutes before disapparating herself. Unbeknownst to both of them a white rat with a silver paw crawled out from under the bushes with a satisfied look on its face. Wormtail would portkey directly to Voldemort's Lair and tell his master all that he had learned. Harry Potter would be in for quite a surprise when he arrived back. The rat was about to disapparate, something that only he had learned to do while still in animal form, when fate intervened in the form of Dudley Dursley.

Dudley had been walking around with his gang terrorizing all of those smaller than he was, which included just about everyone in the world, when he heard several loud cracks. Turning into the park to investigate, Dudley accidently trod upon the head of a little white rat with a silver paw, killing it instantly.

**A/N:** Well what do you think? Was it as corny as I thought it was? I've decided that if there is going to be a relationship in the story it will be Harry/Tonks. Now we have to see if Tonks is going to live or not. Thanks for all the helpful reviews that everyone has given me, keep them coming.

Just about everyone that writes fanfiction uses Harry going to get Dragon hide armor and everything so I can't give a single author credit about. But if you think you were the first, go ahead and take credit. There is some other stuff I wanted to put in here but I can't remember. I should be writing my Philosophy papers, one on Aristotle and one on St. Augustine, both due Friday, but instead I finished this. You should feel privileged, my GPA is at stake here.


	4. Interlude

**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER HAS MENTIONS OF SEX IN IT. NONE THAT IS TOO BAD, BUT STILL ITS THERE. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT JUST DON'T READ IT. THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL GET OFFENDED BY THIS IS IF YOU'RE A REAL PRUDE. OK THERE'S YOUR WARNING

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**Harry Potter and the Ultimate Betrayal**

**Chapter 4**

**Interlude**

Hermione Granger has spoken very little for a week. She no longer raises her hand in class to answer questions. When a professor calls on her to answer a question, she correctly answers the question in a very removed voice. Headmistress McGonagall has been very worried about her and has called her to her office several times attempting to get her to open up. Nothing works.

The reason for her very removed and subdued manner is a simple one. She is completely caught up in her studies. At first she studied to get her minds off things. No matter how hard she tried to go on as normal and forget about Harry, her mind continuously came back to him.

Ron wasn't much help, he was in fact the complete opposite of Hermione. He loved it that Harry was now gone. In his opinion it couldn't have happened sooner. Now that Harry was gone, he was the center of attention. He had made Quidditch captain and was very confident that _his_ team would win it all. He had also taken over leadership of Harry's D.A. He thought he was doing a better job than Harry ever could have, but in Hermione's opinion the ability level of its members dropped significantly.

Ron had become so insufferable that Hermione had stopped hanging around him. He was so caught up in himself that he barely noticed. Hermione had always thought that Harry was the glue that held their friendships together and no matter how much she wished it weren't true, it obviously was.

That was the other reason Hermione had begun studying so vigorously. Without Ron, Hermione had no friends at all. Ginny was caught up in her own world and never talked to Hermione anymore. Ginny had dealt with Harry's betrayal in the strangest way. She had become Hogwarts's favorite broomstick. Every guy was having their turn at riding her. Hermione had attempted to put an end to this when it first started, but that had just ended with them having a huge fight in the middle of the Great Hall and they hadn't spoken since. Ron, being as overprotective as he was of his sister, didn't have a clue as to what was going on. When Hermione had tried to get him to stop it, he simply brushed her off saying he'd handle it before forgetting all about it.

Neville tried as hard as he could to be Hermione's friend, perhaps even more, but Hermione wouldn't have any of it. She hated to admit it, but Neville is completely hopeless. She had spent Five years trying to mold Harry and Ron into the perfect guys, but look where that got her. One went off and joined Voldemort and the other is so full of himself he can't see three feet in front of himself. Hermione couldn't stand to put that kind of time and energy into someone else and have all turn for naught. Neville would require even more work than either Ron or Harry. Hermione would spend all of her time trying to get Neville to learn how to do the school work properly.

Yes, Hermione would much rather immerse herself in all of her books. At least that was how it started out, studying to distract herself. But, now, it was all different. She studied and practiced constantly trying to better herself. She would become the best and most powerful witch this world had ever seen. Then she would go out and hunt Voldemort down and kill him. She would kill him for killing so many people. She would kill him for leaving so many people without any family. But, most importantly she would kill him for ruining her life. After Voldemort was dead and gone, she would turn to Harry. If he didn't see the err of his ways, then she would...

She didn't really know what she would do with Harry. Could she really kill her best friend? Even after all he had done to her? She just didn't know...

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Ron was having the time of his life. Quidditch practice had just ended and everything was going great. Ginny was turning out to be a great Seeker, by the end of the year she'd probably be better than Harry had ever been. He had none-too-nicely kicked Kirke and Sloper off the team, replacing them with two beaters who worked well together. Ron had no idea what their names were, Angleton and Property or something like that, it didn't really matter as long as they did what they were told.

Upon exiting the locker room, Ron smirked inwardly as he saw his current girlfriend, Lavender Brown, waiting for him. She was completely infatuated with him and Ron wouldn't have it any other way. Lavender would do anything Ron asked her to, except spreading her legs. That would change soon.

Ron had expected Lavender to be easier than this. He had heard many stories about her and figured her to be the easiest girl in Hogwarts, other than the sluts in Slytherin, which he would never touch, probably. That would change soon. He'd tell Lavender how much he 'loved' her and she'd be on her back within minutes. Then he'd kick her to the curb and move on to the next. Susan Bones had really big tits, maybe he'd try her out next.

"Hello, baby. How was practice?" Lavender asked with a smile on her face.

"Great! As always. We're really going to win the Cup this year! No one can stop us!" Ron said cheerfully.

"That's wonderful. How about we..." Lavender started, but was cut off by a drawling voice from behind.

"Hey Weasel! How's it going with you and the whore? Finally traded in the Mudblood for a better model?"

Ron turned around immediately, drawing his wand. "Watch it Malfoy! Just give me a reason!"

"A reason to what? Show us how you're more pathetic than a First Year Mudblood? I'm surprised you even know..."

Whatever Malfoy was going to say was cut off as his mouth glued itself shut. A second curse flew at him and Malfoy was sent flying, 5 meters backwards. Crabbe and Goyle approached menacingly, but Ron disposed of them quickly.

"I told you Malfoy. I won't take your shit like Potter did. Next time you'll be in the Hospital Wing for a week." Ron said, sheathing his wand and turning to walk away. Lavender turned with him and positively glowed with the awe she felt for _her _boyfriend. She thought he might be the _one._

Neither of them saw the evil smirk on Malfoy's face. The Weasel would be getting his tonight. He had his orders from the Dark Lord and he would complete them with positive glee. He would even throw in a little extra for himself.

* * *

"Yes! Yes! Right There! That's it!" Ginny Weasley said without any true feeling.

"Yeah that's right you slutty little bitch!" Zacharias Smith roared as he worked harder and faster, approaching his climax.

This was going to be the last time she ever had sex with this kid, Ginny mused. He had a real masculinity problem and always demanded on being on top. Usually, Ginny wouldn't have a problem with that, except that this kid had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Add to the fact that if he thought Ginny wasn't enjoying herself he took it as an insult to himself and got really pissed. No, she was never having sex with this kid again.

"Yes! Oh Zacharias!" Ginny screamed.

"Ginny what are you yelling for?" Smith asked pulling his pants on.

"Oh! Nothing. That was great! I better get going now. See ya around." Ginny said pulling her panties back on.

"Same time next week?" Smith asked.

"About that. I don't think its going to work out. I have a lot of school work to catch up on."

"Alright. Whenever you get caught up then."

"Yeah. Well. No offense, but you're just not getting me off anymore. I don't think we should do this anymore." Ginny said nonchalantly.

Zacharias's face turned red with anger almost immediately. "You little, fucking..." Whatever he was going to call her was cut off as Ginny's famous Bat Bogey Hex hit him right between the eyes.

"Tootles." Ginny said, cheerfully skipping out of the room. Hexing someone was almost as good as great sex.

Making her way back towards Gryffindor Common Room with a spring in her step, Ginny began pondering who she was going to fill her Wednesdays up with now that she was done with Zacharias. Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays were the only days that she actually had a schedule for. The beginning, middle and end of her school week, just to make sure she got her fill. The rest of the week was whoever she could get to have sex with her.

She was so busy going over names in her head that she didn't see Draco Malfoy walk up behind her. She was so preoccupied that she screamed as loud as she could as Malfoy snaked his arms around her and grabbed her breasts.

"Oh. It's you Draco. You scared me to death." Ginny gasped as she turned to face him, a hand to her pounding heart.

"You up for a round Weaslet?" Malfoy asked with a smirk.

"Always." Ginny said allowing herself to be pulled into an abandoned classroom. Draco was another Zacharias Smith in Ginny's opinion. He always had to be in control. The only difference was that Draco had some idea of what he was doing.

Three minutes later found a disappointed Ginerva Weasley and a very self-satisfied Draco Malfoy.

"Weaslet?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry about what I have to do now. Wait, on second thought I'm not." Draco answered with an evil smirk.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, nervousness filling her voice. She didn't like the way Draco was looking at her.

Draco didn't say another word, just gripped down on her wrist as hard as he could and activated the Portkey that was hidden in his pocket.

* * *

Harry was on one of his daily walks to stretch his muscles. His days had been, to say the least, extremely boring as of late. He would wake at Seven in the morning, every morning. His breakfast would be delivered by the House Elf that was appointed to him, Tweedle. Tweedle was like you would expect any House Elf in the service of the Dark Lord to be, extremely quiet and extremely scared.

Harry ate his breakfast as slow as he could manage, but it always ended before he wanted it to. He would then find the comfortable position on a chair, couch, anything, and begin reading. He would read as much as he could for as long as he could. When he felt like he couldn't take it anymore, he would get up and go for a walk to stretch his muscles.

Currently, Harry had already read through four of the books that Voldemort gave him. The first book Harry had read was the book on Transfiguration. He had always been only average when it came to Transfiguration. It always took him twice as long as Hermione to learn how to Transfigure objects, and that was only after Hermione repeatedly showed him how it was done. Reading this book on the Theory of Transfiguration, everything became so much easier. Eager to learn more on Transfiguration, Harry had gone back through his first Five years of Transfiguration completing everything with an ease that bordered on scary. Harry didn't blame McGonagall at all for his past ineptitude of Transfiguration. She had constantly drilled into his head the simpleness, well simple for her, with which Transfiguration was done, but either Harry couldn't grasp it or just didn't want to. His new found skill of Occlumency helped a lot too. He was able to read something once and store it in his brain for good. Before he had to read everything multiple times and even then it was always questionable if he actually learned anything.

The next book was the one on Charms theory. Harry had always though of Charms as being easy, but now it was all second nature, much like Defense against the Dark Arts had been. Harry knew that Sixth Year Hogwarts students would be learning Conjuring from Professor Flitwick, so Harry took it upon himself to find a book on Conjuring and learn as much as he could. Which was just about everything. Eager to learn more Charms, Harry got _Advanced Charms_ out of Voldemort's library and read it all. Some of the Charms he did have trouble with, but getting help from various Death Eaters who already knew how to perform the charm helped a load.

The book that was occupying all his time right now, the book that was tucked under his arm as he walked the hallway, was the book on Dark Arts Theory. Harry was having a lot of difficulty with this particular book. He just couldn't wrap his brain around some of the ideas. He had the ones that he'd already read memorized, he could probably recite them, but he just couldn't understand it. Defense Against the Dark Arts had always come so easily for him, but this he just couldn't figure out.

Turning right and entering the library that was situated on the left side of the hall, Harry reached up and began scratching his chin. That was one thing that was pissing him off right now. His beard. It was just so damn itchy. He had tried looking up in spell books for a charm or anything that would get rid of it, but he turned up nothing. Slytherin, and now Voldemort, wasted no space in the library for books that contained useful household charms. All the books in this library were on some obscure branch of magic, or offensive and defensive spells.

Usually the library was empty, allowing Harry peace and quiet among the shelf of books. Today, however, the library was occupied by one other person, and she looked to be impatiently waiting for someone. Apparently, it was him, because the second she spotted him she stood and glared at him. A lesser man would have quailed under her stare. Harry simply rolled his eyes, continued scratching his chin, walked over to a table, and had a seat.

"I've been looking for you." Narcissa said venomously. Harry paid her no heed, merely opened his book and began reading. Narcissa walked over to him and slammed the book she was holding down on his book and, consequently, on his hand. "The Dark Lord wants you to read the pages he has marked and memorize it all."

"Why didn't you bring this to my room?" Harry hissed through his clenched teeth, his hand was beginning to throb.

Narcissa's eyes narrowed. "I did. You weren't there. I waited for a few minutes. Then came here to see if this is where you were. You weren't. So I waited for you to come here." Narcissa said pointedly.

"Very well. Your job is done. You're dismissed." Harry said flicking his wrist in a dismissing motion. He absolutely loved ordering Malfoy's mother around.

"For your information, I have a project for the Dark Lord that requires research." Narcissa said, her hands and teeth clenching

"Okay. Be a good girl and go over there and do your little research." said Harry as condescendingly as he could. Narcissa glared at him for a couple of seconds before turning on heel and disappearing in-between two bookshelves.

Harry smirked at her retreating form before turning his attention to the book she gave him. The cover and spine of the book were completely blank. Opening the book, there was a title page with one simple word, "Rituals." No author was listed. The part of the book that Harry was supposed to read was glowing blue and Harry turned there immediately. Settling down into a comfortable position, Harry began reading about the ritual that would change his life forever.

It was a short selection of the book, only about twenty-five pages, detailing step by step everything that was required during the ritual. Every little detail that could arise was discussed by the book. Everything from which direction to face, to what days were optimal for performing the ritual, right down to what type of clothing was recommended to wear.

Throughout his time reading the book, Harry kept scratching his chin periodically, much to the annoyance of Narcissa. Finally, not being able to take the annoying sound anymore she stood up and shouted, "If the thing is so damn itchy, why don't you shave the damn thing off? All it takes is a flick of your wand!"

Harry slowly lifted his head, continuing to read until he got to the end of a sentence before answering. "If it's so simple why don't you show me how to do it. If you weren't so old, maybe you'd remember that Hogwarts doesn't teach household charms till the second term of sixth year and unfortunately I won't be there."

Narcissa sat down immediately her cheeks turning slightly red. She obviously did not know the spell either. Women had a completely different spell for shaving, then men. They performed it once then never had to worry about it again. Narcissa went back to her reading her book while Harry continued to stare at her.

Reaching to his chin with both hands Harry began scratching as loudly as possible. He knew it was extremely childish, but he just loved annoying both Narcissa and Bellatrix as much as he could. "That's it!" Narcissa shouted, withdrawing her recently reacquired wand from the folds of her robes. Harry stopped scratching immediately, one hand going slowly to his wand. If she tried to curse him, Harry was confident that he could get his wand out and a spell of before she could finish the incantation.

"Lean back." Narcissa instructed. Then pointing her wand at the table and swishing it a cup of what looked like whipped cream appeared along with a straight razor.

"What are you planning on doing with that?" Harry asked, confused.

"I thought that would be obvious, now lean back." Narcissa ordered, more than slightly annoyed. Another swish of her wand and a white towel appeared.

"How the hell do you know how to shave someone?" Harry asked, completely perturbed now. Here was the queen of Pureblood etiquette and she was actually proposing to do something the Muggle way.

"If you must know, Lucius used to make me shave him in order to show who the leader of the house was. Now lean back."

Not knowing what else to do Harry leaned back and allowed her to go to work. It would be just like Lucius Malfoy to make his wife do something he felt was degrading to show her who was boss. Harry had tried shaving the Muggle way before. All he had succeeded in doing was cutting his face multiple times, some of which bled profusely. He was sick and tired of his extremely itchy beard.

Narcissa went to work with quick skilled hands that had obviously done this many of times before. In no time she was wiping the excess lather off Harry's face with the towel. "There! I won't be doing this again, so either learn how to preform the spell or how to do this on your own." Narcissa said, unconsciously rubbing Harry's now baby smooth chin.

"Thank you." Harry said in an extremely quiet voice putting his hand on hers. That's when the pain hit him like a ton of bricks. A sharp pain started in the middle of his back and spiraled off tracing the shape of the Dark Mark. Narcissa felt it too for she jerked her hand away and clutched the back of her neck.

Narcissa was an enigma just like Harry. Everybody in the service of Voldemort were forced to take the Dark Mark on the inside of their left forearm. Only Harry and Narcissa had it in different places. Harry had a humongous one covering his entire back. Narcissa had one on the back of her neck, no bigger than a Knut. Without another word both of them disapparted.

What Harry saw when he reappeared next to Voldemort almost made him gasp in shock. The only thing that prevented this from happening was his extensive training in Occlumency. Standing in the middle of a ring of Death Eaters was Draco Malfoy. He had a Death Eater mask on, but Harry had seen him so many times that it would be impossible for him not to recognize him.

That wasn't what shocked him. Harry had known Draco was a Death Eater since he had learned what Death Eaters were. No it was the little girl who was curled up in the fetal position, quivering at his feet. He'd also recognize that girl anywhere he saw her. With her bright red hair, who couldn't recognize Ginny.

Then a thought struck him and he immediately began praying that it wasn't true. But, he knew no matter how much he prayed that it wasn't true, that it would remain true. He just didn't believe in coincidences. Draco showing up with Ginny Weasley, Narcissa delivering a book on rituals. A part of the ritual that Harry had been dreading since the moment he read it was truly coming back to haunt him. '_For the ritual to be complete, a sacrifice of life must be made. This sacrifice can be either animal, or human.' _Ginny was meant to be that sacrifice.

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**A/N**

**Well that's Chapter 4. How do you like it? Yes, I know its short, and you probably hate being left with that cliff hanger, but I wanted to get this out. I had planned on this chapter containing the ritual and everything, but that would probably take another week or two to write and I wanted to get this out now. **

**Now for the excuses. My Hard drive crashed and I was left without a computer from about March 5th till April 6th. My parents were just too damn lazy to order a new hard drive and when they finally did, it took 2 weeks to get here. The reason for that is because I live in the middle of nowhere and FedEx couldn't find my house. They had it on the truck for a week and a half before they finally called and asked for directions. Then it took 3 weeks for it to get installed because we didn't have a Windows XP disc for it and had to order it and again FedEx couldn't find the house. **

**Now for the enticing of the next chapter.**

**Do you think Harry will go through with the ritual? I know, but I ain't telling you. You'll just have to wait.**

**Next chapter I promise will have a kick ass duel between Harry and a character who I'm not telling about. Let's just say that Harry almost loses his head, literally. **

**Well that's it for now. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.**


	5. The Ritual

**A/N: Well here is the next chapter. I know that I promised that Harry would duel in this, but I just couldn't get that far. I tried my hand at a little tiny bit of Romance and a little of angst and found that not only can't I write them well, but I almost can't write them at all. For those of you like me who hate the Harry/Ginny ship, you'll hate the first parts of this chapter, but you'll love the end.**

**Warning: There is a human sacrifice written in pretty graphic detail in this chapter. I have sufficiently marked it off, so if you don't want to read it you can skip it. It is not vital to the story, but I think it is the best part of the chapter so read at your own risk.

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Three quick knocks at the door caused Harry to awake from his slumber. He attempted to pull himself from the bed, but a weight held him down. Another, single, knock sounded at the door. Harry reached over and grabbed his glasses from his bedside table. Putting them on the world came into focus Harry saw what was holding him down.

A shock of red hair was covering his chest. A slender arm was wrapped around his waist. The second set of three knocks came at his door and Harry slowly, carefully untangled himself from the little redhead and began to make his way towards the door. Halfway there and Harry stopped suddenly realizing that he was completely starkers. Grabbing a robe off the ground, Harry quickly slipped it on and then quickly opened the door, allowing Severus Snape into the room.

"What do you want?" Harry asked.

"Like you don't already know, Potter." Snape replied looking pointedly towards Harry's bed, then back at Harry with an eyebrow raised.

Harry looked over to his bed, then back at Snape, a questioning look on his face.

"Stop playing around." said Snape with an exasperated look on his face. "Have you thought how you're going to get yourself out of this one?"

Harry's face still bore a look of questioning as he look towards his bed for a second time. Whatever Snape was here for obviously had something to do with his bed, but Harry could think of nothing wrong with it. Granted it was still messy, but the House-Elf would be around to tidy it up when it brought Harry's breakfast. Surely, Snape wasn't checking up on him to make sure Harry was making his bed.

A movement on his bed drew his eye, but Harry relaxed as he realized that it was just Ginny stirring in her sleep. What could Snape be here about? "GINNY!" Harry exclaimed, causing said redhead to sit bolt-upright exposing her breasts to both Harry and Snape.

"What?" Ginny asked thinking something was wrong.

"Nothing." Harry said quickly, blushing and turning his back on her. "Go back to sleep."

Snape continued staring at Ginny until she pulled the blankets up to cover herself. When she was fully covered Snape turned back to Harry and asked, "what do you plan to do now?"

Ginny's mind was reeling as the memories of last night were brought back to her. She had been frozen stiff, the second she laid eyes on You-Know-Who. He was more terrifying than she had ever imagined. What happened next was really foggy, but she remembered being levitated onto a bed by Harry. As he turned and began putting wards up on the door, Ginny had been snapped out of her stupor. When he turned back to her she slapped him hard across the face, kicked him in the shin, and then slapped him with her other hand.

'Are you finished?' he had asked, to which she replied by grabbing hold of the collar of his robes and slamming her lips against his. At first he was hesitant, but soon fell into the kiss and even deepened it. What happened next, Ginny would remember for the rest of her life.

She had fallen onto the bed, pulling him down on top of her. They had removed each other's clothing in a flurry and Harry had entered her quickly, completing her for the first time since he had rescued her down in the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry, like any man experiencing his first time with a more experienced woman, climaxed not long after he fell into a rhythm.

That was alright with Ginny though. She had been dreaming of this moment from the time her mother had given her 'the talk.' They had sex several times that night, into the morning, and with each time Harry's stamina had improved. Until finally he had sent Ginny through an orgasm and they were both spent.

Ginny laid back down with these thoughts flowing through her head. Soon she had fallen into a contented sleep with a smile still on her face. Her dreams were coming true.

Harry's thoughts, too, were on the happenings of last night. He was so wrapped up in relieving every moment of the night that Snape had to repeat his question three more times before he made himself heard.

"What do I plan to do?" Harry answered Snape's question by repeating it. "What do you think I'm going to do? Get her out of here somehow!"

"And you're just going to throw everything away for one silly little girl? I thought when we began planning this you vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to get the job done. Now you're risking everything for a little tramp?"

"Now is not a time to anger me _Snivellus. _I'll give you that warning. Now either help me, or get the hell out of here."

Snape looked as though he would like nothing better than to hex Harry right there, but held off. He stood as though to leave, but sat back down after a moments indecision. "Very Well." was all he said.

They both sat in silence both contemplating ways of saving Ginny's life, when it hit Harry like a sudden epiphany. "I got it. I'll teach her how to apparate! Then I'll just tell Voldemort that I was unaware that she knew how to apparate. I'll probably be tortured for not knowing better, but I can take a few minutes pain. I'll begin teaching her right now." Harry said in a rush, standing. He was beginning to make his way over to reawaken Ginny when Snape stopped him in his tracks.

"Perfect, idea! Shame it won't work. Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't have thought of that? Problem is the only way for people to apparate in or out of here, is to have the Dark Mark. Unless, you know how to make the Dark Mark, which you don't, that idea is shot. Same goes for Portkeys. No Portkey will work on this premises unless made by the Dark Lord's own hand. Use your head Potter!"

Harry sat back down, his head in his hands. For Ginny to get out of here, she would need the Dark Mark. For her to get the Dark Mark she had to swear allegiance to Voldemort, and Harry highly doubted that Voldemort would allow that to happen. _If only there was a way to fake the Dark Mark._ Harry thought to himself. That's when it hit him. They didn't have to fake the Dark Mark! Ginny would just have to become someone that already had a Dark Mark. She could do that by drinking a Polyjuice potion.

"What about..." Harry began but was cut of by Snape.

"Yes, Polyjuice could work. No, I don't have any. No, nobody I know would keep Polyjuice in their Potion supply. The penalty for having Polyjuice potion without a Ministry approved license has a fine of 1,000 galleons plus seven years in Azkaban. Nobody is stupid enough to risk it." Snape shot down Harry's idea.

"You can just make some then. I know you have the ingredients in your personal supply."

"Do you never pay attention—how the hell do you know what ingredients I have in my personal supply?"

"Oh, Me, Hermione, and Ron made a Polyjuice potion in our Second Year. It took us a month—shit it takes a month to make Polyjuice doesn't it. There's just not enough time." Harry exclaimed, pounding his fist onto the table for emphasis.

"Impossible! No second year is skilled enough—so you did steal from my personal supply. You're lucky we're not at Hogwarts, you be expelled so fast..."

"I didn't steal it you idiot. Hermione did. And, no I didn't steal the Gillyweed in Fourth Year either. That was Dobby." revealed Harry. "Ugh! This is just so frustrating I can't think of anything!"

"Think of anything for what?" asked the sleepy voice of Ginerva Weasley.

"Of how to get you out of here." Harry replied simply.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"You don't think that I would leave you here to die do you? We're trying figure a way to get you without blowing my cover." Harry stated simply.

"Wait—so you're," and then it apparently clicked and Ginny realized what was going on, because she sprang from the bed and crushed Harry's lips with hers. "You're not evil!" she exclaimed as she broke away for breath.

"Er, Ginny?" Harry said prying her off him. "How about you get some clothes on?" Harry queried blushing deeply at Ginny's state of nakedness and turning his back.

"Better yet, do you have a place that I can shower?" Ginny asked, seemingly unashamed of being naked in front of both Harry and Snape. "I haven't showered since yesterday morning."

"Through there." Harry said, pointing to the bathroom, refusing to look at her. "No shower, just a bath." Harry informed.

"Even better." Ginny said and had to restrain herself from skipping to the bathroom. Last night Ginny had forced herself onto Harry, thinking it would be her last chance before she was killed. She was under the impression that Harry was evil and would soon be killing her. Now though. Now she may just have a chance at her dreams and have a life together with Harry. The would have children and raise them together and be the best parents ever.

While Ginny was going over these thoughts Harry was going over thoughts of his own that were on the complete other side of the spectrum than Ginny's were. _What the hell has gotten into Ginny? She was never this forward before. And last night, wow! I never in a million years expected that to happen, or for it to be that good! I had always thought of her of a little sister. Okay, that's gross. Note to self: Quit thinking of Ginny as a little sister._

Harry was snapped out of his musing as he caught the smirk on Snape's face. "What the hell is that look about?" Harry snapped at Snape

"Potter, you may be my superior within the Dark Lord's forces, but in here and everywhere else, I still am and will always be your superior. You'd do well to remember that, or you may find yourself on the receiving end of my wand." Snape snarled before settling into his smirk again.

"Well what is the smirk about?" Harry demanded, ignoring Snape's threat.

"I was just thinking of how funny it is that you are willing to risk your life to save little innocent Ginerva Weasley's life, when the truth is she is far from innocent at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked in a low dangerous voice.

"Well if what learned from listening in on some of my Slytherin students conversations, little Miss. Weasley has been becoming quite friendly with the male population of Hogwarts. What was it that they had called her? Ah yes, they called her _the_ School Broom Stick." At Potter's quizzical look Snape decided to elaborate. "'Everyone has had a ride.' they could be quoted as saying." By the look on Potter's face Snape could tell that his plan was working. Though he was very good at hiding his emotions, Snape had survived this long by knowing how to read people like an open book. If Potter had his wand on him, Snape was positive that he would be on the business end of it. Despite this, Snape still went in for the kill. "In fact, if my sources are correct, which they most certainly are, she was in the process of pleasuring young Draco Malfoy when she was kidnaped."

Snape had expected an explosion, and from the old Potter he surely would have gotten one. This new Potter obviously took his training seriously, which Snape was thankful for, and could keep his anger in check. Truthfully, Snape disliked verbally abusing his students. Not so much Potter, but the rest of them he disliked abusing. But, Potter needed to see things clearly. If he had any hope of defeating the Dark Lord, Potter would need to complete his training under him. If he blew his cover trying to save this girl, there would be no hope for Potter and thus no hope for the wizarding world.

When Dumbledore had first come to him with the idea of Harry defecting to the Dark Side to train under the Dark Lord himself, so that he could learn to defeat him, he had thought the idea preposterous. But, when the Headmaster had revealed to him the Prophecy, Snape knew it had to be done.

"What exactly are you getting at _Severus?_" Harry questioned after pulling himself together.

"What I'm get to is if she is really worth blowing your cover over?"

"What would you have me do? Go through with the Ritual. Sacrifice her life to gain power?"

"Exactly." Snape said simply.

"I can't do that." Harry answered immediately. "I won't become more like him, than I have to." Harry said this so softly that Snape almost didn't hear him. "Now we have today and tomorrow to think of a way to get her out of here without blowing our cover. After that, we'll fight our way out."

"Who's this 'we?' If you're foolish enough to try and fight your way out, you'll be doing it on your own. I for one will not be risking my life or my position to save one silly little girl. We are here to try and save the world not an individual person." Snape lectured before exiting the room.

_Can't the boy just see reason?_ Snape thought to himself. _I want to save the girl just as much as he does, but there's just no way to do it._ And it was true. Despite his cold demeanor to just about everyone, Severus Snape hated seeing life end needlessly. But, he was also a person who knew when there was no other way, and this time there _was _no other way. _If only Potter could get rid of his 'Hero syndrome' and see what is so obvious. _

Snape knew that if Harry went through with the Ritual, he would get the power that he would need. It wouldn't be enough to defeat the Dark Lord, but it would be getting there. Snape, like every other member of the Dark Lord's Inner Circle, had completed the ritual himself. Of course he had used an animal sacrifice, not a human. The only person Snape knew of to have used a human sacrifice, and still be living today, was the Dark Lord himself.

When and if Harry completed this Ritual, Snape knew that he would be more powerful then all of the Death Eaters who weren't in the Inner Circle. Of those within the Inner Circle, Harry would be stronger than half. Of the half that he wasn't more powerful than he would be on par with. The rest would only be slightly stronger than him. But, when Harry would reach magical maturity, Harry would be more powerful than any of the Death Eaters.

Of course, Snape knew that power wasn't everything. Even after the Ritual, should he go through with it, Harry wouldn't be able to beat a single Inner Circle member in a straight Duel. He would be hard pressed to defeat a lot of those Death Eaters not in the Inner Circle. Once the Dark Lord taught him how to duel—only the Dark Lord himself and Dumbledore would be stronger than him.

If only he could look past the 'Damsel in Distress' and see this.

Harry couldn't believe what Snape was suggesting. Harry couldn't imagine sacrificing anyone's life just to gain power, let alone Ginny. _It's not that I love her—whatever that is—but she's _Ginny, _Ron's little sister, and one of Harry's first friends ever. I could never do what Snivellus is suggesting. Could I?_

A small 'pop' signified the arrival of the House-Elf. "What would master Harry Potter be liking for breakfast?" The Elf asked in a squeaky, scared voice.

"Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, toast, and orange juice." Harry answered coldly. "For two." he added as an after thought. He had almost forgotten about Ginny even though he had been think about her seconds before.

Five minutes later, the House-Elf returned laden down with plates of food. Fifteen minutes after that Ginny came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her frame. She merrily dug into her still warm breakfast—thanks to a warming charm—while Harry still pondered his current dilemma.

* * *

The deadline was now fast approaching. The two days had flown by as days tend to do when you are dreading an upcoming event. The ritual was now a mere two hours away. And as fate would have it, Harry had come up with no viable option of escape for Ginny.

He had yet to tell Ginny of the upcoming disaster, hoping instead, that she would enjoy her last two days of life blissfully ignorant. Enjoy her last days she did. As did Harry. It was two days of sexual exploration for Harry. Every time Harry would get 'excited,' Ginny would put his 'excitement' to good use. In those two remaining days Harry had left his quarters for a total of maybe fifteen minutes.

It was in one of those few trips out of his quarters that he had learned how truly hopeless escape was. He had been summoned by Voldemort during one of his and Ginny's sessions, and for the first time was late for a summons.

After a bout of the Cruciatus curse, Harry was informed that every single Death Eater would be present to witness the Ritual. If Harry had thought he had any hope of escape by fighting his way out it was completely quashed with this information.

Now the time was here. It was now or never. As Harry began dressing in full battle attire Harry called Ginny over to begin explaining what was about to happen. About how they were both about to meet their deaths in a few minutes.

"What's up Harry? You ready for another round?" Ginny asked and began taking off what little clothes she had on.

"Ginny wait." Harry started putting his hand on hers to stop the removing of clothing. "There is something very important that I have to tell you right now."

Seeing Harry's serious expression and the clothing he was wearing, Ginny knew now was not the time to interrupt. She sat gently down on the edge of Harry's bed and asked, "What is it Harry?"

"Ginny there is something that I haven't been telling you. The reason you were brought here—the reason you are here–I'm not going to let it happen. I'd die before I let it happen, but the reason you are here is to be a sacrifice."

"What do you mean a sacrifice?" Ginny asked. Despite Harry's reassurances that he would not let it happen, she was beginning to become frightened.

"Voldemort wants me to undergo a ritual. A ritual that will give me more power. A ritual that requires a live sacrifice, to be done properly. You, Ginny, are meant to be that sacrifice."

"WHAT!" Ginny screamed. "You can't let that happen! I don't want to die! I don't want to lose you again! There's so much I want to do in this life. I can't die yet..." Ginny kept going on in this manner, saying reasons that she didn't want to/couldn't die, her words becoming less coherent as she went along.

"GINNY!" Harry had to shout to get her to shut up. "I told you that I wouldn't let that happen, I'm going to get you out of here!" Ginny visibly relaxed at these words.

"Thank Merlin. When? How are you going to get me out of here?"

"That brings me to my next set of bad news." Harry started solemnly. "Snape and I have been trying for the past two days to come up with a way to get you out of here. The only '_viable_' option is the front door."

"Great! When are we leaving?" Ginny asked.

"We're going to _try _and leave as soon as I'm finished getting ready." Harry said, before continuing to get dressed.

"Wait, what do you mean _try_ and leave?"

"I mean exactly what I said. We are going to _try _and leave. Unfortunately, the chances of us getting out of here alive are about 20/80, the 80 in favor of us dying horribly painful deaths. I was recently informed by Voldemort that every single Death Eater is going to be here to witness the ritual. My best guess is that there are about twenty-three Death Eaters who live here 24/7. Then there are the twenty-plus Death Eaters who have already arrived for the ritual. Not to mention the thirty-plus that have yet to arrive, I'd say that we are shit out of luck of escaping.

"For one thing, you don't have a wand, and even if we could somehow manage to battle our way through the seventy-plus Death Eaters we still have to contend with Voldemort and there is no way and hell that I could beat him with my current skill level. So, we are basically the living dead right now. At least we'll go down together." Harry added trying to lift her spirits.

Ginny didn't say anything. Harry always had a way of leaving her speechless. Ever since that first time that she had seen him at the Burrow, Harry had always had the power to take the words right out of her mouth. Growing up she had always imagined that there was nothing that Harry Potter couldn't do. Then when he saved her from the Basilisk, that only served to strengthen her conviction that Harry could overcome anything.

Now here he was admitting to her that he had come upon odds that no wizard in the world, not even himself, could overcome and he was joking about it. He was resigned to his death and for what? For her. She couldn't believe how calm he could be about it. He had already sacrificed so much for this world, never asking for anything in return and now he was about to was about to make the ultimate sacrifice on the slim chance that he could save her life.

She couldn't let him do that.

If he died, the world stood no chance against Voldemort. She didn't know how she knew this, but she knew it to be true.

It was time for somebody other than Harry to sacrifice something. In that moment she had made her decision.

Harry, meanwhile, had finished dressing and was now throwing everything he owned into his trunk. If by some miracle he made it out of here alive, it wouldn't do for him to leave all his stuff behind. He also decided to pack all the books of Voldemort's that he had. If he could make it out he would need to continue his training and as far as he knew, these books were one of a kind.

As he was tossing the last of the books in, he was stopped by Ginny's hand on his shoulder.

"Harry." she said. When Harry turned and looked into her face, he at once knew that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Harry, I can't let you do this." she stated simply.

"Do what Ginny?" Harry asked confusedly. "If we escape, I'm going to need all this stuff. The trunk can shrink down in size so it can fit in my pocket." he explained.

"Not that, Harry. I can't let you go through with this. I can't let you risk your life in order to save mine. You're too important."

"Ginny, you don't know what your talking about. Just help me finish packing all this stuff and we can get out of here." Harry insisted, turning to continue packing.

"Harry you know better than me the hopelessness of the situation. There's no way we'd get two steps out of this, this building alive. There's no hope for me left, but there still is for you."

"What are you saying?" Harry asked, but he knew what she talking about.

"Harry, if you die, there will be no hope left for the world. I know in my heart that you will be the one that has to defeat Voldemort. I'll help you accomplish that any way I can. I now know that I can do more for you dead than alive. If you can gain more power by sacrificing me, than so be it. I'd rather die knowing that I helped you at least this once, than knowing that I caused your death."

"No." Harry stated simply. "We either leave together, or we die together. Now either help me pack this shit, or get out of my way and I'll do it myself. We leave in five minutes so be ready." Harry tried to step past Ginny, who had moved in-between him and the trunk he was packing, but she wouldn't move. "Get out of the way Ginny." Harry said, beginning to get angry.

"No."

"I said get out of the fucking way!" Harry yelled pulling his wand and pointing it at her chest. For the first time that Harry could remember, his wand wasn't steady, but shaking uncontrollably.

Ginny wasn't moving. She looked as calm as ever. _How can she be so calm at a time like this?_ Harry wondered to himself. This only served to fuel his anger. Not at her, but at himself. Anger towards the world. Anger towards whatever supreme being was in the sky pulling his strings. But, mostly anger towards everything that was Voldemort.

"What will you do hex me?" Ginny asked, and Harry immediately dropped his wand to his side. He knew he would never hex her. "You're acting as though you have a choice in this matter. You don't. If you know anything about Weasley's, it's that once they've made up their mind about something, it stays made up, no matter how wrong it is." Ginny explained with a small smile.

Tears began rolling down Harry's cheeks. Ginny was forcing Harry to perform the ritual. What's worse, Harry knew he could stop her, but he wouldn't. He _would _go through with the ritual. Not because, Ginny was forcing him to, but because no matter how wrong he thought it was, he _knew _deep down that it was the right thing to do.

What was one life to the lives of billions? If Harry didn't go through with this sacrifice, he knew billions would die. Who was he to make that decision though? Did he have the right? Apparently he did, because he had made the decision, and he would sacrifice that one life to save the billions.

Ginny didn't say anything, she just wrapped him up in a warm hug.

* * *

**THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF A HUMAN SACRIFICE. JUST KNOW THAT IT IS IN KNOW WAY BASED ON FACT. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ THIS PART DON'T. JUST KNOW THAT HARRY DOES SACRIFICE GINNY. I WILL LEAVE ANOTHER NOTE LIKE THIS WHENEVER THE GRAPHIC PART OF THE SACRIFICE IS OVER.

* * *

**As much as Harry wanted to be with Ginny in her last hours, it just couldn't be. He needed to study the ritual as vigorously as he could. He had already memorized everything the ritual involved, but he wasn't taking any chances. There was a lot of chanting involved on his part and he would not screw it up.

Ginny sat silently on Harry's bed. A tray of food beside her, left untouched. She was of course having second thoughts, but she would not let them change her mind. She would see this through to the end. Suddenly, the silence was broken by Harry's sigh and the shutting of his book.

"It's time." He said simply. Voldemort had just called him through his Dark Mark. "You know what to do?" Harry said, not really questioning or stating. Ginny merely nodded. "_Stupefy." _Harry said pointing his wand at her. He would levitate her to the Meeting Hall, and hopefully she would never have to wake again. He wanted to say goodbye to her, but had decided against it. That would testing his resolve too far. "_Wingardium Leviosa._"

Harry quickly left the room, Ginny floating in front of him. Too soon, he was standing at the doors to the Meeting Hall where the ritual would be place. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry pushed open the doors and walked to his destiny.

The meeting hall was almost completely dark. There was only a light shining on Voldemort showing only him and the chair he was sitting on. There was also a ring of light showing all of the Death Eaters in their circle. There was a little gap for Harry to enter and when he did the gap closed off immediately. When Harry reached Voldemort, he kneeled and kissed the hem of his cloak. God, how he had hated that. "My Lord." He greeted simply all the while the hate was rolling around in his head. He quickly submersed it though.

"Welcome, Harry. We are all ready. I see that you have brought the guest of honor." Voldemort joked to which all the Death Eater laughed. Harry didn't. "Revive her."

_Shit_ Harry thought before doing as he was told. Ginny blinked her eyes into consciousness. She quickly remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Acting afraid wasn't necessary though, she was truly scared.

"Welcome, Miss. Weasley to your death." Voldemort said waving his hands at the room around him and all the lights turned on. _Please spare me the theatrics._ Harry mentally rolled his eyes. "The Ritual Circle, has been provided for you my Apprentice. Take her there and strip her of her clothing."

Ginny true to what she agreed to do began to fight Harry all the way. Harry using his superior strength, pinned her arms against her sides and carried her there. When they reached the Ritual Circle, he set her down and she decided to really sell it. Slapping Harry across the face and kneeing him in the groin, Ginny broke free and began to run only to be met with a Cruciatus curse from Voldemort.

After about thirty seconds of the curse, Voldemort lifted it. And Harry summoned her back to the Circle. Any fight that was in Ginny, even the fake fighting was gone. Harry quickly, but carefully removed her of all her clothing, baring her to all the Death Eaters.

"Commence with the Ritual." Voldemort commanded.

Harry hesitated for a moment before removing his outer robe and shirt. He then removed the large knife that he had within his robes. Setting the knife by Ginny's side, Harry began positioning her body. She was placed in the direct center of the huge circle measuring ten meters in diameter. Her head had to be pointing directly north. Her arms east and west respectfully. Her legs were spread eagle. Ginny was supposed to fight during this process, but she didn't. Either she couldn't, or she didn't want to out of fear of another Cruciatus. Tears of pain and fear were running down her cheeks.

Harry began the first part of the chant slitting both of Ginny's wrists. The blood flowed freely out of the cuts and onto the floor, all the while Harry continued chanting in a monotone voice that did not seem to be his own, but was.

As Harry's words began to take effect the blood began to take on a life of its own tracing the intricately drawn runic Ritual Circle. When the blood finished tracing every last part of the circle, it began glowing red as Harry finished his chanting. On the last word, a red force field shot up to the ceiling along the outer-circle creating a glowing red tube of a shield. This effectively enclosed Harry for the duration of the ritual. Nothing could get in or out of this shield now, not even the Killing Curse could break through. The only way of bringing it down was to finish the ritual or when the caster of it died. It also froze Ginny where she lay. She could still breathe and talk, but not move. She would be unable to move ever again.

Taking a deep breath, Harry prepared himself for the next part of the ritual. Sitting down on Ginny's stomach, he began chanting anew. Slowly, as he began chanting a hole began to open in front of him, above his head. It started out the size of a needle, but soon began to get larger, until it was about two meters in diameter.

The hole was impossible to see into, leading into another dimension as some liked to think. All that was seen was black smoke constantly swirling around, and what looked like red lightning trying to escape but unable to do so.

Harry, mentally began to prepare himself for the hardest part of the ritual. Still, chanting the same thing over and over again, to hold the dimensional gap open. Taking the knife into both hands, Harry raised it above his head, all the while chanting the same thing over and over.

Harry began the last part of the chant different from the rest. This, along with the ending of Ginny's life would allow for the gap to become fully open and allow for a single spirit, or demon–depending on which version of the description of the ritual you read–to be released from its prison and inhabit the hosts body giving the host more power along with a few special gifts, different for each person who undergoes the ritual.

As he was about to plunge the knife into Ginny's heart, his emerald eyes met her frightened brown eyes, and suddenly a calm came over her, and she moved 'I love you' to him. This completely though him off balance and brought a pause to his chanting. He stumbled through the last part of the chant, barely managing to get it out, and not perfectly as it should be, before raising the blade high again and driving it into Ginny's heart. She gasped a moment in pain, before her eyes glazed over and the rest of her life exited her body.

Harry looked up to the dimensional gap, expecting to see a white smoke escaping from the swirling black, as the book had described it. What he saw shocked and scared him.

The black smoke was leaking out of the hole, falling to the ground as though it were a liquid. It quickly filled the inside of the shield from floor to ceiling. That's when the red lightning began escaping, striking everywhere, barely missing Harry.

* * *

**END GRAPHIC PART OF RITUAL.

* * *

**On the outside, Voldemort was seething with anger. The idiot boy had screwed up the ritual. The black smoke had quickly obscured his vision of the boy, and now all he could see was the occasional streak of red lightning. He had never heard of this happening. There had been other documented screw-ups of this ritual, Voldemort had witnessed some himself. All that happened in all of the documented cases was death of the caster, that was it. For the first time in his life Voldemort was at a lost of what to do.

The Death Eaters who knew about the ritual and had performed the ritual themselves, knew that something was wrong, but also knew there was nothing the could do. If there was something they could do none would have done anything anyway. All the could/would do was look on with a weird sense of fear.

The Death Eaters who knew nothing of the ritual and were learning of it for the first time, thought that this was part of the normal ritual and therefore thought nothing of it. All they knew is that they too had a weird sense of fear crawling over them, like nothing they had felt before.

Harry could see absolutely nothing, save for the occasional steak of red lightning. He was extremely worried and had that same weird sense of fear that the others had except multiplied about ten times. Suddenly, out of where he knew the hole to be, he saw a white light begin to appear.

There was an sound coming from the hole also. It was a cross between a roar and a groan. Then the light began to take on substance. Two large hands appeared, grasping where the edge of the hole would be. The roar/groan became louder as the thing began to pull itself free from the hole. Harry wanted to get up and run, run anywhere he could, but found he couldn't move.

As the thing pulled itself completely free, it fell to the ground. When it hit the ground it lay completely still, and Harry prayed to everything he could think of that it was dead. His prayers went unanswered as the thing began to stand and stretch.

Standing at its full height, the _thing _looked to be a little taller than Hagrid, but no where near as wide. Though it looked to be made of smoke, Harry immediately thought that this _thing _was built like a rock. Muscles, upon muscles, the _thing _looked as though it could crush an anvil in its bare hand.

"_Finally,_" the _thing _spoke. "_Finally, I am free of that prison_" Though Harry could understand it perfectly, he was positive that the _thing _was not speaking English. He knew that it was a language that he had never heard before, that probably no one on earth had heard in many millennia.

"_Who has..._" the _thing _began, but was cut off as the still open hole began to emit another roar/groan. This time a light of bright yellow began to emerge. It too took on form and began to pull itself free. As it fell to the ground, it sprang to its feet instantly. It was nowhere near as large as the white _thing. _It was six foot seven inches at the most, and half the width of white _thing. _It, too, was built like a rock though, just a smaller form of the white _thing._

"_Who are you? It is not your turn! Go back to where you belong! This body belongs to me!" _The white _thing _roared, and charged at the yellow _thing. _

Yellow nimbly dodged the huge fist of White that threatened to squash him like a bug. Leaping into the air it delivered a roundhouse kick to White's face, sending him flying into the red shield. If the kick had hurt, White showed no indication as sprang to its feet, only to be kneed in the stomach by Yellow.

White bent double, and Yellow grabbed hold of its head, connecting with three solid knees to the face before flinging White backwards into the red shield again. Yellow began to advance on White, but White was already on its feet and attempted a sweep kick. Yellow again easily dodged by jumping high into the air. White must have predicted this, because it reached into the air and grabbed hold of Yellow's leg.

Spinning Yellow around in a circle, White released its hold on Yellow's leg as it reached top velocity. Yellow flew at speeds that Harry couldn't believe, and collided with the red shield. Before Yellow could fall to the ground, White delivered a punch to Yellow's chest that would have easily crushed a humans bones to dust. Yellow apparently faired no better as it fell to the ground and lay there lifelessly.

Not taking any chances, White quickly walked over to Yellow's body and raised its foot above Yellow's head. Bringing the foot down with all the might it could muster, both Harry and White were shocked as its foot fell short of Yellow's head, caught by his hand. Yellow showed amazing strength as it held White's foot to a stand still. But, suddenly, Yellow swept at White's other leg with its leg, at the same time push upwards on the foot he held in his hands, causing White to overbalance and fall on its back.

Yellow was on White as quick as lightning plunging its fingers into what Harry assumed were White's eye sockets, ripping out its eyes. White roared in pain and attempted to punch Yellow, but it was already off its chest. White slowly got to its feet, attempting to ignore the pain it was obviously in and listen for any sound of Yellow.

Yellow easily dodged the punches and kicks thrown at it, before plunging its hand deep into White's chest, pulling out what Harry could only presume was its heart. White fell to the ground, dead and quickly began to evaporate into the air, as did the heart that was still in Yellow's hand and the eyes that were laying on the ground.

"_Shame." _Yellow said before turning its attention on Harry. "_I will make good use of your body._" It said before leaping at Harry. Harry attempted to shield himself with his hands, but it was useless. The _thing_ had turned back into the yellow vapor and was entering Harry's body suspending him three feet in the air.

When the vapor was completely inside Harry the pain started. Every single inch of his body screamed in agony as his genetic makeup was changed. His bones began lengthening, his skin was becoming tougher, almost like a hide. The top of his head burned in two separate places. The area where his lower back met his ass also began to burn with the same pain.

Through the pain, Harry _felt_ something in his mind, searching through all his memories. Harry immediately began attempting to push the invader out of his mind, but found it completely impossible. _"Stop your fighting. It will be over in a minute and you, Harry Potter, will cease to exist." _Came a voice inside his head speaking in the same language as the Yellow and White _things _had spoken in.

This cause Harry to fight even harder than before, but it was completely futile. Trying to force this invader out of his mind was like trying to hold water in your hands, it kept slipping through. Then an idea came to Harry if he couldn't force it out of his mind, he could contain it in his mind. Cut it off from the rest. Lock it off in a room all to itself. And he began doing just that. Instead of forcing it out, he forced it into the far recesses of his mind. The thing screamed in frustration and began forcing its way back to where it was, trying to assert its control over Harry's mind. Harry was having none of it.

Pushing back harder, Harry began hurling random thoughts and memories at the invader. Thoughts and memories of extreme pain. The invader screamed again, this time in pain as it was forced to live out those thoughts and memories. Thoughts of the Cruciatus curse. Memories of Harry receiving the Dark Mark, of him being tortured. This made it easier for Harry to force it back and hold it at bay while Harry built the walls around it.

The invader, sensing its eventual imprisonment, started shouting for a comprise. Promising to share the body. To help Harry out, to aid in the killing of Voldemort. While tempted, Harry was having none of it and continued with the building of the walls.

Upon completion of the walls, the invader began slamming against them in a futile attempt to escape. All it accomplished was for Harry to reinforce the walls. Satisfied that the thing could not escape, Harry rested and immediately fell into unconsciousness.

As he fell into unconsciousness, the invisible force suspending him in the air, dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground. The black smoke that had filled the inside of the shield immediately began to subside back into the hole. With it went the lightning, and when it was all gone the shield fell leaving Harry alone. The Ritual Circle along with Ginny's body had disappeared.

As Voldemort saw Harry's body, he immediately took in the changes. Harry's body was slightly larger, and more defined. Other than that the boy looked exactly the same, if not a little worse for the wear. Oh and then there were what Voldemort could only describe as additions to the boy's body. He'd figure that out later. Right now it was obvious that the boy need medical attention, he's breathing was extremely shallow.

"Narcissa, take Potter back to his room and provide all the medical care that he needs. Alert me when he awakens. Bella, go with her. We do not yet know what the boy has been through and he may not be himself. Protect your sister, but do not kill the boy, subdue him only." Voldemort instructed, and his instructions were followed instantly and without hesitation as always.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it, the end of the chapter. Tell me what you think about it. I wanted to add this end note to tell you that Harry is not SPECIAL. The ritual did not go correctly, because he SCREWED up! Not because he's special. Well it was a combination of the fact that he screwed up, and the fact that he had a willing participant who loved him. No to date has had an actually willing participant for the Ritual, let alone one that loved them.**

**I promise that the next chapter will be action packed to the brim. It will contain the after effects of the Ritual, the duel that was supposed to be in this chapter, and Harry's first mission for Voldemort.**


	6. Results

**A/N: I apologize in advanced for the long wait and the shortness and shittiness of this chapter. Reasons for this are in the A/N at the end of the story.

* * *

**

**Harry Potter and the Ultimate Betrayal**

**Chapter 6**

**The Results**

"Ugh." That one word—if it could be considered a word, it was more of a grunt—summed up Harry's existence as of right now. Not an inch of his body was free of the intense ache that he felt now. He attempted to open his eyes, but what little light there was felt to him as though a thousand blazing suns and were shut quickly.

"Is he awake?" a female voice asked with more than a hint of apprehension.

"No. I don't think he is. His eyes are still shut and his breathing hasn't changed." said a voice from directly above him. "He must be dreaming, or something." Harry would have opened his eyes, but found that he didn't want to. Maybe they'd go away if they thought he was still asleep. He was in pain, pain brought pity and Harry hated pity more than anything. Besides, he was still tired as hell.

"You shouldn't be that close, Sister. We don't know yet if he's dangerous or not." _Dangerous?_

"Since when did you become so paranoid, _Trixie_?" _Trixie? Who the hell was Trixie?_ "Besides, I know for a fact that he is completely, and utterly harmless. Even if he wasn't himself there would be nothing he could do." The voice from above Harry stated in a tone that clearly said 'I know more than you.'

"How do you figure that?" Trixie said moving closer to Harry as if to prove she wasn't scared or paranoid. "And don't call me Trixie! You know I hate that nickname, _Cissy_." Trixie said as she sat on Harry's bed. Harry had to stifle a groan as his body was jostled around.

"Well, _Trixie, _it is physically impossible for him to move, let alone attack us. He'd be lucky if he was able to lift his arm off the bed. Every last muscle on his body has been completely torn and is currently in the healing process. I could give him a potion to heal it, but then that would prevent the growth of his muscles and would make all the intense pain he must've been going through completely pointless." Cissy explained as she sat on the other side of Harry's bed. He was barely able to suppress the groan that wanted to escape his lips. He had finally recognized the voices of the two women in his room. Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange.

With the recognition of the voice came realization of why they were there—in his room—and why Bellatrix had wanted to show caution. Harry had undergone the Ritual last night and something had gone horribly wrong. As if to attest to that, the thing that was currently locked inside Harry's mind gave a great shove against its cage. "_Release me!_" it screamed within Harry's head, in that same strange language that Harry somehow understood.

"_Not on your life." _Harry thought at the thing with a calmness that seemed to infuriate the monster. The thing slammed against the cage several more time, roaring all the while, before giving up and becoming silent.

Harry was brought back to the outside world as he felt warm breath on his face. "What are you doing?" Bellatrix asked incredulously.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to kiss the Boy-Who-Lived." Narcissa said inches away from Harry's lips.

"Aren't you forgetting the...never mind." Bellatrix started, but cut herself off as Narcissa's lips connected with Harry's.

It was a moment of bliss for Narcissa before Harry's hearing was assaulted by her yelp of pain. Funny thing was, the pain wasn't in Harry's ears, but the top of his head. What the hell was that about?

"Was it worth it?" Bellatrix said amusement lacing her voice. "I tried to warn you. But of course, you never listen to your older, wiser, more beautiful, and all around better sister, do you?"

"Please." Narcissa drawled. "You're older than me by three minutes. And with that gaunt look on your face and your haggard looking body, you'd be lucky to get a man to touch you even under the Imperious curse. Besides, I knew exactly what was going to happen, and yes it was worth it. Lucius uses my body for his pleasure and that's it. What's a few seconds pain for something that hasn't happened since my wedding day? I wish I never would have agreed to marry him under the old marriage laws."

"Quit your pouting Cissy. I told you that once this war is settled I'd kill Lucius for you and we'd escape together."

"Why can't you do it now?"

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. If we try disappearing now, the Dark Lord would hunt us down and kill us. If we wait until the Dark Lord succeeds or fails in his plans for the extermination of the Muggles, he would probably care less if we disappeared. We may not even have to wait that long. Once he gets the rest of wizarding Britain on his side, he'll be too busy to realize we're gone."

"Waiting is easy for you. Your husband is dead. You no longer have to follow his every command, unable to lift a finger in retaliation less you be wrought with extreme pain. You can do whatever you want, with whomever you want."

"That's right I can, can't I." Bellatrix replied and then leaned down and kissed Harry. It took all he had not to respond to the kiss. In the end it took reminding himself exactly who she was and exactly what she had done in her past to prevent it.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way!" Narcissa let out in a huff.

"I know." Bellatrix responded, obviously knowing what her sister was talking about.

"Our marriages were supposed to ensure that we remained on the sidelines. We would have lived like our mother, and our aunt did. We would have supported the Dark Lord financially and politically, while our husbands did the dirty work. Instead, I was forced to become a healer for the Inner Circle and occasionally the cannon fodder and you were shoved into the thick of things. I only escaped Azkaban the first time because I had saved several of the Inner Circles lives. That and they asked no questions about me to Lucius. He would have sold me out in a second."

"What about me? How do you think I feel? I spent twelve years in Azkaban and now look at me!"

"That was your own fault and you know it. You were set for the same thing as I was, to support from the sidelines. But, you had to go and show off your skills. If you were smart you would have let those Aurors kill your husband and that would have been the end of it. You killed three of them by yourself. Of course the Dark Lord would want someone with those skills in his Inner Circle."

"Aright Cissy, that's enough. The past is past. I gave you my word that I'd get us both out of here alive, and I intend to do just that. Just drop it."

The conversation was apparently over as both women got up off the bed and remained silent. Still, Harry waited a few minutes before starting to moan. The moaning led to him opening his eyes and closing them rapidly, attempting to get them used to the light.

As he started moaning, both Narcissa and Bellatrix had stopped whatever it was they were doing and came to check on him. Narcissa began running her wand up and down the length of his body muttering incantations all the while. Bellatrix simply had her wand aimed at him.

"How do you feel Potter?" Narcissa asked, the sweetness to her voice gone; replaced by drawl that Harry came to know her by.

"Sore," Harry said, his jaw cracking. "Very sore." he corrected himself.

"That's to be expected with the changes you went through." Narcissa said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, well—" but couldn't finish as his voice cut out in a groan of pain. He had attempted to sit up, but his muscles screamed of fire. He closed his eyes and began breathing methodically hoping to stop the pain.

"What was that?" Narcissa asked snidely, an annoying smirk on her face.

"Shut up and help me up, _Cissy._" said Harry, hoping his use of her nickname would annoy her. It was only then that he realized what he did. It was obvious from the look of their faces that they knew what it meant too.

Both women had taken several steps backwards, and both now had their wands aimed at Harry. Bellatrix's was steady as ever, but Narcissa's was shaking; whether in fear or anger, Harry couldn't tell.

"How much did you hear?" Bellatrix inquired calmly and coolly.

The first thing that came to Harry's mind was deny, deny, deny. Just plain deny that he had heard anything. But, the more logical part of his brain took over before anything could come out of his mouth. "Enough." was all he said, as he began going over ways to turn this possibly explosive situation into his favor.

That was obviously not the words the Bellatrix wanted to hear, "Avada—"

"I wouldn't be doing that if I were you, _Bella._" Harry said casually as though Bellatrix were sneaking out past curfew instead of trying to kill him. Suppressing the groans that wanted to escape his mouth Harry sat up on his own, resting his back against the headboard.

"And why not? Two simple words and our problem goes away." said Bellatrix. "Avada—"

"Two simple words and your problems are only beginning. The Dark Lord will know immediately that it was you who killed me, then who knows...you may get to live long enough to know extreme pain." Staring into Bellatrix's eyes, Harry got the distinct impression that she could care less whether she lived or died. Pain was nothing to her. Deciding to press further Harry continued, "Then of course, he'll want to know _why_ you killed me. And since of course, both you and I will already be dead, he'll have to turn to the only other person who was in the room at the time. Your dear sister, Narcissa. She won't be lucky enough to receive the gift of death like you or I. And trust me death will be a gift with what she will be destined to go through. You and I both know first hand how much pain the human mind can endure." With those words both Bellatrix's face and wand fell. Harry's assumption that she would do anything for her sister paid off.

"What do you want?" she asked defeated.

"First thing is that you, Bella, are going to teach me how to duel properly. While I hate to admit your skill exceeds my own. The Dark Lord promised me his personal tutelage, but he continues to avoid it. In the meantime you will do perfectly. You are obviously the most skilled of all the Death Eaters."

"Is that all?" Bellatrix asked. While it was clear that she found the idea of teaching a sixteen year old—or maybe it was just Harry—how to duel irritating, she truly felt that she was getting off easily. "Then you'll leave us both be."

"Don't be silly. I'm going to milk this for all its worth." laughed Harry.

"Fine. I'll teach you to duel and whatever else you want, but you have to promise to leave my sister out of it." Narcissa looked as though she were about to argue with her sister, but Bella held up a hand to forestall her. "Those are the terms take them or leave them."

"Bella, I admire your courage, your loyalty to you sister. The way you say that as though you were in a position to negotiate. As though you were the one in charge and not me. No, I will not be leaving you sister out of it. I've got plans for her too." Harry said smoothly. "I will, however, allow for this one promise. Anything that I have her do will not bring her any harm. Those are my terms, and you will agree to them, or you will both die."

Narcissa looked extremely pissed, being spoken of as though she were a child incapable of protecting herself and was about voice her protests in a none-to-friendly way when she was cut off by her sister. "Fine. We agree."

"Good, now you're both dismissed. Bellatrix, our lessons will begin tomorrow, directly after breakfast so be here by Nine A.M." When he was finished, Harry stood up, with a phenomenal effort, took two steps and decided to add as an afterthought, "I may not be up to it tomorrow, but come anyway and we'll play it by ear."

It wasn't until Harry was in the bathroom and filling up the bath, that he realized that he was completely naked. _Oh well. _he thought to himself, _at least they got an eyeful. _When the bathtub was full and Harry was about to step into it, he got his first look at himself since before the ritual in the water's reflective surface. What he saw, he definitely did not like.

Rushing over to the full-length mirror in his bedroom, Harry confirmed what he saw and to his dismay saw even more that he did not like. Looking at himself up and down as carefully as he could he noticed several changes to his appearance some he didn't mind, and others that he certainly did mind and would have to see about changing them as soon as possible.

One change, one that he actually liked, was the fact that he was now several inches taller. Originally he had be a respectable five foot, ten inches tall. Now, if his estimation was correct he had grown four inches taller which would put him at six foot two. The good thing about this was that his muscles had filled out also so he would be all stringy and lanky like Ron. He was completely muscle bound, but they had definitely grown. Where his muscles weren't defined before, there was now definition.

His admiration of himself was cut short as his attention was brought back to his unwanted and disturbing characteristics. _Something definitely went wrong with the ritual._ Harry thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes, praying that what he saw was just his imagination or just an illusion brought on by some gunk in his eyes. That's when he noticed something else, he didn't have his glasses on and yet he could see more clearly than he ever could with his glasses on.

Reaching up to his head, his last hope that this was all his imagination was thrown out the window. He yanked on them as hard as he could, but all it brought about was a sharp pain. Growing out of the top of his head was what he only assumed were cat ears. Furry, black, cat ears. If they were real, then that could only mean that his tail bone had elongated, grown fur and become an actual tail.

Harry had finally become the freak that the Dursely's had always called him.

* * *

**A/N: Well Here is the update, part of Chapter 6. Yes it is only part of chapter six, in fact only about half of what I had planned. I just felt that you all deserved at least some of the chapter and to let you know that I haven't died nor have I given up on this story. I've gone through and reworked the outline of where I was going with this fic. Originally, it was just going to be one long fic through Harry's training and then to Voldemort's and/or Harry's defeat. Also it is unfortunate, but Real Life has been interfering and has been a real bitch. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that it involves work, fighting with loan companies, fighting with my school, going to see disappointing movies, very little parties, and no where near enough drinking. I'm going to try and get the rest of the chapter out as soon as I can. Hopefully before August 30th comes around because that is the first day of my senior year in college. Well I hope you like what I've given you and I truly will try to get the rest of the chapter out soon. I also hope to update the next chapter of my story entitled simply 'Harry Potter' soon after I get the rest of this chapter out. **


	7. The Assignment

**Harry Potter and the Ultimate Betrayal **

**Chapter 7**

**The Assignment **

"_Crucio_!" Bellatrix yelled, the spell connecting with Harry. She mentally counted to five and then released the spell. She wished she could hold it on him until he screamed himself hoarse, but alas she couldn't. Her fate was now connected to his. However inadvertently it had happened, her life, and more importantly that of her sister's, now depended on this—_child_.

"Again." came Potter's voice as he got shakily to his feet. She was loathe to admit it, but the kid had skill and in another year, or two he would be able to take on the Dark Lord and actually win. Hell, at the rate he was going it would take less than a year. He was already more powerful than any wizard she had met, save for Voldemort and the late Albus Dumbledore. All he lacked was skill and knowledge, but he was starting to make up for that.

"Potter, enough is enough. We've been at this for hours and your just getting worse as time goes on."

Potter took that as his cue and fell to one knee in a coughing fit in which more than a little blood came out. Narcissa was on her feet and at his side in seconds, her innate need to heal taking over. She had wanted to be a healer for as long as she could remember, and she was heading that way until she was duped into a marriage contract with Lucius and he put a stop to it. She healed what she could with her wand and slipped him a potion to put him to sleep, claiming that it would stop his coughing fits. He would need several more potions to regain his complete health, but she did not have them on her and would need Snape to make them for her.

"He'll need to be taken back to his room." Narcissa stated quietly to her sister. She did not want to be around the kid more than absolutely need. Most of the time he annoyed the hell out of her and made her want nothing more than to remove his impudent little head from his neck. But, there were the odd moments where he was so sweet she wanted to hug him until his head came off. Most situations involving him, had his head popping off.

"Leave him here. Maybe one of the scrubs will stumble upon him and kill him for us." Bellatrix said, referring to all those Death Eaters who were not members of the 'Inner Circle.'

"You know as well as I do that they all fear him almost as much as they do the Dark Lord. Now, I have to go and get some potions off of Snape, unless you would rather I let him die, I suggest that you take him to his room and I'll meet you there."

"Fine, just hurry up. I don't want to be alone with him any longer than I have to."

"Its your own fault, Bella. If you weren't so loose with your mouth we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Don't you dare try and put the blame solely on me, Cissy. You were there as well and were flapping your big mouth just as much as I was."

"I know, okay! We shouldn't be fighting we should be planning our next step." Narcissa said before turning on heal and walking away leaving Bella to deal with the Potter kid.

Bellatrix absentmindedly cast the levitation charm on Harry and began levitating him to his room, her mind going over what it always did in the silence, ways to get out of this mess that she and her sister had gotten into.

* * *

"Harry! Harry, can you hear me?" came a wizened old voice that Harry recognized all to well. "It's time to wake up."

"Headmaster?" Harry asked groggily. As he opened his eyes and they got adjusted to the light, the trademark beard, half-moon glasses, and twinkling eyes appeared looking overtop of Harry. "Thank Merlin its you Professor. I had the worse dream that you and I concocted some half brain idea of me joining Voldemort to act as a spy and to learn how to beat him." Harry exclaimed a big smile lighting his face.

"I'm afraid, Harry, that it wasn't a dream. It is, in fact, a reality." replied Dumbledore, the twinkle disappearing from his eyes.

That was when Harry looked around and saw, true to Dumbledore's word, that it wasn't a dream and he was still in Voldemort's hideout. But, if he was still here. Then how... "Professor! How is it..."

"...that I'm here?" Dumbledore finished for Harry. "I am not here in the flesh, but I have brought you into the Dream World. At first I had no intentions of coming to you tonight as I thought you would have your Occlumency shields would be up. I was only trying to make sure that I would be able to find you when I had informed you of the date on which I would come. But, it was to my great surprise that not only were you extremely easy to find, but your shields were also very weak. Would you mind telling me why that was?" Dumbledore explained.

"Its probably because I was knocked unconscious, by Bellatrix Lestrange." At least that's what he suspected happened. He had no idea about the potion slipped to him by Narcissa.

"That's very interesting. Why would you be knocked unconscious by her?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Because she has been teaching me how to duel. Voldemort hasn't been around in a while. And when he is around, all he does is gathers information, gives orders and then leaves again. I have no idea what's going on, so don't even ask."

"Yes, Bellatrix was one of the best duelers I have ever seen. Her, along with Severus Snape, Sirius Black, and your father were the best. Of that I have no doubt. And I think I have an answer as to why Voldemort hasn't been around. He fears you. It's as simple as that." Dumbledore answered.

"_Voldemort _fears _me_?" Harry asked incredulously. "What on earth does he have to fear from me? I've been dueling with Bella for a little over a week now and I still can't beat her, let alone Voldemort."

"He fears you, because he has learned the rest of the Prophecy."

"HOW! I didn't tell him anything! It was Snape, wasn't it? That greasy bastard, I'll kill him when I..."

"Harry, calm down. It was not Severus who told Voldemort the rest of the prophecy, it was you. Not on purpose mind you." Dumbledore continued seeing Harry's incredulous look. "It wasn't until just now that I have been able to figure this all out. When I went to pull you into the Dream World I had access to all of your memories. But, I had to sift through them delicately or you would have woken up." explained Dumbledore. When realization that Voldemort had done the same thing dawned on Harry, Dumbledore continued. "Now that your memories are no longer in complete disarray I had an easier time at it. A drawback to that particular part of Occlumency as you can clearly see. But, when Voldemort had access to your memories they had no order to them at all so he had to be even more careful and I believe that all he got out of you was the complete version of the Prophecy."

"So Voldemort knows the Prophecy. Why doesn't he try and kill me then? He'd be immortal and no one would be able to stop him."

"Fortunately, that is not the way the world works. If he were to kill you, eventually another person with the ability to kill the Voldemort would be found. Maybe not the next day, maybe not even for another one hundred years, but eventually there would be. Nothing lasts forever. With you still alive no one but you can kill him, and so he keeps his distance from you in fear that you will try to kill him.

"Another reason Voldemort does not kill you is because he truly believes that you are on his side. He, like I, have realized the similarities between the two of you. He believes that, like him, you will stop at nothing to gain power. He is too blinded by power to see major and obvious differences between the two of you.

"Yet another reason he will not kill you is because of the Prophecy itself. It speaks of a power the Dark Lord doesn't know. So until he figures out what that power is and how to combat it. Or, until he reaches true immortality, he will make no further attempts on your life. While he may be blind, he is not stupid."

That's how Dumbledore explained it and it made sense to Harry so he decided to take it as it was. "Professor why are you here? And for that matter, why didn't you tell me that you knew how to enter the Dream World it would have made things so much easier."

"As to the latter part of your question: it wasn't until recently that I figured out how to enter the Dream World. Voldemort is not the only one who knows how to research archaic magic. It makes everything easier when you know what you are looking for." Dumbledore explained with a wry chuckle. "As to why I am here: I am here to see how it is you are doing. I get reports from Severus on your well being, but it isn't the same as hearing it from yourself."

"I'm as good as can be expected considering the fact that I killed the girl that I thought I be in love with, who just happens to be the sister of my best friend." said Harry his eyes downcast and fighting to hold back the tears that wanted to escape. It had happened a little over two weeks ago and he was still having trouble keeping his emotions in check.

Dumbledore's face took on a somber expression before saying, "Yes we were all affected greatly by Miss Weasley's death. It is those type of decisions that have a habit of haunting you for the rest of your life. I will not tell you to try and forget it, or even not to dwell on it, because it is this that will remind you that you are only human and can only do so much. I will, however, give you this piece of advice: whenever you feel like giving up, like you have no hope left remember Miss. Weasley's death, because if you do give up, if you do lose hope, her death will have been for nothing, and then you truly will be a murderer."

Harry couldn't help but let his tears fall now. "Have you told Mrs. Weasley about it yet?"

"The Weasley family has been informed." Dumbledore said simply.

"Do they all hate me now?"

"I have not told them the manner in which Ginerva perished, just that she is no longer with us. I shall leave that most difficult task up to you." Harry didn't know how to react to that. Snape had told him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had not given up all hope on him just yet and he was glad that he would still have their belief in him. But, on the other hand, he did not want to face Mrs. Weasley when he told her that he had killed her daughter. He didn't know if he were strong enough to watch her break.

"Harry, if it isn't too hard for you, I was wondering if you could, perhaps, enlighten me as to just what exactly did happen during the ritual."

Reluctantly, Harry told Dumbledore everything about the ritual. About how he had stuttered on the last line, about the two entities fighting each other and how the victor had invaded Harry's mind and tried to take control of his body. How he had fought back and managed to subdue it in a cage.

"You took on some of its physical attributes?" Dumbledore half stated, half asked.

"Yeah. I guess you could say that. I mean, I didn't really see what it looked like or anything. It was just yellow and gaseous and in a vaguely human form."

"You were not supposed to take on their physical attributes." stated Dumbledore. "The ritual is supposed to increase your strength, your speed, and your reflexes. It also increases the amount of magic that you are able to channel. Also, in every single recorded instance of this ritual being preformed, it has always been and indistinct, white, gaseous blob. Never has there been any instances where two of the entities would come out and fight, and never has one tried to take control of ritualist's body. This is most disturbing. Most disturbing indeed.

"Harry, would you mind showing me what you look like now?" Harry merely raised his eyebrows and spread his arms as if to say, _There you go._

"Forgive me Harry." Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "In my curiosity, I forgot to explain to you some of the attributes of the Dream World. When inside of it everyone has control of their person and their surroundings, though someone with more experience and more power can take that control away from you. I do not wish to take control of you, so you have had control the entire time. Through your subconsciousness, your clothes have been changing every so often from your Gryffindor robes, to your muggle clothing. You also look as though you did when I last saw at 12 Grimmauld, though every so often you grow a bread."

"Oh. Well, how do I do this?" asked Harry.

"Just concentrate hard on what you look like after the ritual."

Harry closed his eyes in concentration, but opened them when he heard Dumbledore muttering "Interesting." Harry now looked as though he were supposed to, though somewhat transparent. He felt less 'solid' too. "It seems that your body is beginning to wake up. I will research more into this and get back to you. I will have Severus inform you of the next occasion I will be able to visit you. We can not do this too often, for you never know when Voldemort may be lurking. He may or may not be a Master of the Dream World as he claims to be. I, for one, do not wish to find out..."

Whatever Dumbledore said next was cut off as Harry awoke in his real body.

* * *

Several weeks had passed by with Harry intensifying his training with Bellatrix. He wanted to get better faster and now spent most of his day practicing with Bellatrix. He had now managed to beat her several times in the duel, but it was due mostly because of his better stamina.

Harry was able to last longer against her now and giver her more of a challenge. Add that to the fact that they dueled about twenty plus times a day, Harry's wins usually came at the very end when she was dead tired. As soon as Harry won, they would call it quits for the day, neither able to continue after that.

The Twenty-Fourth of December came and with it came the first full meeting with Voldemort since Harry's initiation as a Death Eater. "Welcome my loyal subjects." Voldemort began. "Tonight we will give a Christmas Present to the Ministry of Magic they will not soon forget. I want you to form into groups of five and cause chaos throughout the Muggle world tonight. Kill as many as you can before the Aurors show up. When they do show up I want each group to account for a death of at least one Auror. Those of you who fail me will be punished most grievously. Those who show some initiative and kill more than one will be rewarded.

"Form into you groups now and come to me one at a time and I will give you the location and the time of your attack. I have a special mission for my those of you lucky enough to be in my Inner-Circle so refrain from joining any groups."

Slowly, but surely everyone formed into their groups and one by one they got their mission and disapparated out of the Meeting Hall. After about an hour all that was left was those in the Inner-Circle and Harry. He considered himself above the Inner-Circle so if they were not going on these raids he would not be going either.

"Good." Voldemort stated after the last group had apparated away. "You, my most loyal followers, have a rather simple mission tonight. There are forty-eight of you and fifty-four groups of them. Your job is to go to their various locations and observe. Watch for those who preform exceptionally, and more importantly those who seem reluctant. Take note of them and report back to me.

"There are not enough of you, so some of you will have to double up in your observations. That is why some of the attacks will come later than the others. Tonight we will weed out the weak among the Death Eaters. I have written down their locations on pieces of paper and you will be assigned them randomly." Voldemort intoned, holding up several sheets of paper.

With a flick of his wand, Voldemort sent the pieces of paper soaring off and into the hands of all those in the room. All those _except_ Harry, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Lucius. Narcissa's lack of receiving a slip of paper was obvious as she never went on missions. Harry didn't get one because he never went on missions when Voldemort assigned them. The other two confused Harry.

"Those of you who received assignments may go." When the cracks singling disappartion finished Voldemort began again. "You three," indicating Harry, Bellatrix, and Lucius, "have an important mission. There is an Auror who has a special ability that has proven most detrimental to me. It seems she has been gathering information by assuming the form of family members and acquaintances of known Death Eaters. She is too important to the Ministry's information network to be risked protecting muggles. She would be dead already if it were not for the ineptitude of Edward Copier. He is extremely lucky he was killed in the attempt for he would not have liked his welcoming. Now they have stationed three Aurors on guard of her house every night.

"Hopefully the attacks on the Muggle World will pull them off guard duty. If not your mission still stands. Kill the guards and kill everyone inside, especially her family. They have proved very annoying for far too long. Tonight the entire Tonks family will be wiped from the records."

_Shit. _Was the only word Harry could think of.

* * *

**A/N: Well that's all of Chapter 7. Sorry for the long wait, but I had huge reports due that I had to work on. Thankfully my hard work paid off and I got a 3.0 for this semester. Anyways, I had planned for a lot more to happen in this chapter, like the attack on the Tonks family and some more stuff that I had promised in earlier chapters, but I felt like I really needed to get this chapter out. It has been since August since I last updated and that is a long time even for me.**

**I hope you liked this chapter. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think. The next chapter should come out shortly after New Years Eve. I aiming for January 5th but I won't promise anything.**


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